By Anat Harel, Director, Yokneam-Megiddo Regional Development Unit

A moving and highly attended graduation ceremony was held for participants in the "Business of Ones Own" program after having successfully concluded stage A of the program.  The participants were awarded certificates in the presence of: Simon Alfassi, Mayor of Yokneam; Hanan Erez, Mayor of the Megiddo Regional Council; Leah Fadida, Chair of the Community Center and the Yokneam Committee for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women; Yael Shapira, Community Representative for the Jewish Federations of St. Louis and Atlanta, Directors of Yokneam and Megiddo Social Welfare and Education Departments; and representatives of the Economic Empowerment for Women Organization (EEW), which brought the program to the region and provides professional instruction for the course.

The EEW developed the "Business of Ones Own" project for the purpose of assisting women to achieve economic independence and stability.  The program is founded on a small business development strategy that enables women to open up businesses based on their existing aptitudes and abilities.

Yokneam Mayor Simon Alfassi noted with satisfaction that this stage of the program represents a further steppingstone in Yokneam’s extensive activities for the promotion of women's interests in the city.  “Our city will do everything in its power to assist the women who have concluded this stage of the program to execute the tasks necessary for opening their businesses,” he said, adding: “I view our women holding a central role in contributing to both their families and Yokneam’s economy.”

Hanan Erez, Mayor of the Megiddo Regional Council remarked: “I have been asked: ‘Where have these women been hiding up to now?’ and I say: ‘It’s not the women who have been hiding; it’s we who have been hiding them!”  Erez was addressing with seriousness the situation women too often find themselves when life leads them down a road to distress and hardship.  He expressed his admiration for the program, which, with commendable sensitivity, guides the women while striking a balance between their need for empowerment and belief in their abilities, and the need to plan their futures and stabilize their livelihoods.

Simon Alfassi and Hanan Erez pointed out the fruitful cooperation between the two municipalities, which has now become the norm on many levels.  Today this cooperation is being expressed in a joint course for women of the region, who come from differing backgrounds and environments.  Their common goal of growing, developing, and arriving at economic stability unite them as they congregate in one place and learn and grow together.

“My participation in the program saved me a lot of money compared to what would have happened if I were to open a business without the training, preparation, and planning I received here,” says a women in her fifties who left the workforce and is now planning to open up a store in the near future.

Another of the course’s participants who lives on a moshav says: “I was planning to open a gallery, but the course instructor called my attention to the fact that a gallery’s main activity is on Saturdays.  So I decided to stick to our family’s dairy barn and develop it in the direction of tourism.”

The ceremony focused mainly on awarding certificates to graduates of stage A of the program, who presented the products of their efforts, their business plans, and their vision for their future livelihoods.

In the first quarter of 2008, additional program will be opened for other women who want to join and who have the desire and ability to realize a business dream. 

As is well known, Yokneam and the Megiddo Regional Council have been in a longstanding partnership with the Jewish communities of Atlanta and St. Louis through the Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 platform.  About two months ago a group of women from Atlanta's Reform Jewish temple known as "The Temple" came to visit the region.  For most of the year this group is involved in promoting the status and advancing women - generally and as individuals.  On this visit, the women were introduced to the "Business of Ones Own" program, the process, and, primarily, the women participating in the program. The guests were hosted for dinner in the homes of many of the participants of the program.

Impressions from the visit reached St. Louis, where in beginning of March, a special women’s conference will be held focused on Jewish Art. Two graduates of the course will be invited to represent the program at the conference in St. Louis and present their business plans.  Criteria have been set for selecting candidates and interviews will be held at the Yokneam Community Center on December 13.  All of the program’s participants have been invited to consider the offer and submit their candidacy.