Mahmud Gedik - Van İŞGEM Manager
VAN İŞGEM emerged at the end of 2004 with the acceptance of the application of proposal we made as Van Industrialist and Businessmen Association (VANSİAD) to the tender called by Prime Ministry Privatization Administration and KOSGEB with the financial support of World Bank. Thanks to the interest and demand to our project from the very beginning, which is 2005 and 100% occupancy in business center, motivated us to search for increasing our physical and technical capacity. We prepared our application in 2009 when we were informed about the call for proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. In 2010, our project was accepted and we signed the protocol with the Ministry. We believed in this project and insisted in pursuing it and when it came to the application phase, we worked with great dedication to complete it successfully. Until the earthquake in 2011, the facility operated with 100% occupancy and with a staff of 350 people ; as Van İŞGEM we experienced serious problems during and after the earthquake. Those experiences at that time in Van led us to re-determine our priorities as İŞGEM. We gave a break in production for about 6 months. Buildings belonging to İŞGEM were used to meet the need for sheltering and storing the aids following the earthquake. At the same time, we contributed to serve for human aids by letting our buildings being used as a distribution centre. At the end of the implementation phase which started in January 2016, now we ask ourselves whether we have done all these things. The technical assistance component of the project seriously contributed to the development of the technical capacity of the İŞGEM and entrepreneurs; the works component conduced to raise the physical capacity via the establishment of 30 modern workshops with three different workshop models; besides those things by establishing a conference hall with 200 seats and social facilities under works component contributed to the sustainability of VAN İŞGEM and became a role model for the newly established İŞGEMs. Through Entrepreneurship Ecosystem introduced for the first time in our city as a result of the protocol signed between Van İŞGEM, Van 100. Yıl University Technopark and Van Organization Industrial Zone, we also contributed to the cooperation between institutions. In this ecosystem, entrepreneurs applying to ISGEM just with a business idea, can take advantage of consultancy services on plausibility and sustainability of his/her idea, from many experts of Technopark. Entrepreneurs who have already completed R&D processes and who want to start serial production are given priority in İŞGEM. Moreover, In Organization Industrial Zone, which is a part of ecosystem, entrepreneurs graduated from ISGEM and Teknokent are given priority. Since our city is located in the centre, all activities performed have positive influence in the whole region. Van ISGEM is often visited by people from the provinces of eastern and south eastern regions interested in establishing ISGEM and demanding relevant support. Hence this is another indicator that this project has been a real success. Through the technical support provided by the project, we re-categorized our supports to the entrepreneurs. Business plan preparation, access to financial resources, marketing, business networking / creation, coaching and technological support, foreign trade and e-commerce are among the services we provide to the entrepreneurs. As a result, thanks to the Expansion of Van Enterprise Development Centre Project, implemented under the Competitive Sectors Program, number of workshops in the centre increased from 30 to 60, and indoor space reached nearly 20.000 m. We aim to increase the number of employees to reach to 700 by the end of 2018. We also trained 514 entrepreneurs and entrepreneur candidates in Van, Muş, Bitlis and Hakkari under 43 different subjects. During the project, we worked with 70 different experts. We would like to thank in particular the staff of the Ministry and all other employees that took part in this project since Van ISGEM reached a structure as a brand to add value to our city and our country and we have been able to pay our debt to this beautiful country as a result of this project.
By closing event on November, 14, 2017, project results were shared with the public. For more information about the project, please visit İŞGEM Projects page.
