The Business Growth Initiative Project: A Center for Excellence in Enterprise Development
Client: U.S. Agency for International Development
October 2007-September 2008
Option Period One: October 2008-September 2009
 
Sub-contractors: J.E. Austin Associates, Inc.; Management Systems International
The BGI team provides technical leadership in enterprise development for USAID, its development partners, and wider communities of practice. The team provides assistance to professional staff and practitioners on how to design and implement enterprise development projects utilizing best practices.
The Objectives of BGI are to:
  1. Improve enterprise development project designs and implementation to reflect best practices; 
  2. Conduct research on trends and specific aspects of enterprise development;
  3. Produce and disseminate technical briefs on specific topics of interest to Missions and to the broader audience for enterprise development;
  4. Promote the application of these best practices in enterprise development through technical assistance to Missions to aid in improving design of enterprise development projects and through conducting seminars and workshops; and
  5. Provide technical assistance in the design and implementation of pilot demonstration projects in targeted Missions that will exemplify the application of best practices in enterprise development.
  
We can provide direct technical assistance to Bureaus, Missions, and individual projects in:
·          Project design  
·          Project evaluations
·          Tracking and utilization of best practices
·          Research of the latest trends in economic growth
·          Technical briefs and case studies
·          International seminars and workshops
The BGI web based knowledge portal https://www.businessgrowthinitiative.org, is a one-stop shop for information including topics such as:
·          Upcoming events
·          Project listing of USAID enterprise development projects
·          Key Practice Areas of
o    Business Enabling Environment
o    Business Services
o    Competitiveness
§   Clusters
§   Value Chains
o    Enterprise finance
o    Information and communication technology
o    Innovation and entrepreneurship
o    Post-conflict environments
 
Project Team Members
 
 Selected Publications