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 Cluster Development Workshop at Bangalore: Organized by ZDH for its partners from 16-18th January 2009. It was an interactive workshop with all the ZDH partners participating and a lot of information on cluster development was gained from the expert advice of Mr Mignesh Parekh, Cluster Pulse, Ahmedabad, Gujarat of EDI. Different Cluster Models were discussed along with successful implementation and sustaining the Cluster System. Cluster Development is an area of interest to COWE as five clusters are being planned with COWE setting up a Producing Company which would govern the activities right from cluster development to marketing of the products. The aim is to develop model clusters and this workshop, has brought into light many aspects of cluster development.
Advanced Team Building workshop:
Conducted on 31st January, 09. Working towards the prospective goals of the organization through imparting training programmes and motivating staff, and members, for a collective and team spirit activities in day to day activity, is the primordial aim of this workshop. This advanced programme brought in interactions of the members with the Executive and Managing committee members. Inspired with the growing activities of COWE, the members are also coming forth with their ideas, participations and contributions to the organisation. Through this program the participants realise their value of time and learn to plan schedules and work in advance. They also realise their shortfalls and how they can correct them to effectively get work done on time.
 
Quality Control Workshop:
 The one day Quality Control Workshop on 13th February 2009 was a great success. MSME Director, APIIC, Zonal Manager and JIA, President were there at the Inaugural programme. The delegates from various industries and members of COWE welcomed this workshop which aided them in their day to day work and which would help them to enhance qualitative productivity.ISB-GOLDMAN SACHS ‘10,000 WOMEN’ INITIATIVE 10,000 Women is a global initiative that aims at providing business management education to derserving women predominantly in developing and emerging markets. The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad is an academic partner for the 10,000 Women Initiative in India. Through this programme Goldman Sachs and the ISB will provide world class education that will help the participants unleash their full potential, think big, and grow their businesses. COWE members have participated in this 10,000 women initiative.
Bhoomi Puja of COWE’s Food Park:
The foundation stone of COWE Food Park was laid Dr Geeta Reddy, A.P. Minister for Major Industries, on 17th February, 2009. COWE Food Park is conceived with the idea of promoting women with projects close to our hearts, Food. Also it happens to be the sunrise industry with immense support from the Government, consultants and the market demand. COWE’s Food Park is aimed at being different, progressive, transparent and honest to be as a model park, a module that will succeed. We will build each industry according to HACCP, USFDA and other international norms to have easy access to the international markets. Bhoomi Puja of Cowe’s Food Park was performed on the 17th of February 2009 with Ho’ble Minister for Major Industries, Sugar and Export Promotion, Dr.J.Geeta Reddy laid the Foundation Stone. Mr.B.P.Acharya was the Guest of Honour.
 
International Women’s Day 2009:
To celebrate the growth of COWE, its Women Entrepreneurs, COWE chose International Women’s Day to have a joint programme with International School of Business on 8th March, 2009 at ISB campus. The screening of “Provoked” a movie starring Aiswarya Rai and Directed by Jagmohan Mundra was in the itinery. Provoked is the true story of a Punjabi Woman Kiranjit Ahluwalia which led to a sensational judgement concerning harassed women in the UK. The director of the movie, Jagmohan Mundra and Renu Challu, Managing Director, State Bank of Hyderabad were the Guests of Honour
  
Lean Manufacturing workshop:
Lean Manufacturing Workshop was held on 28th March 2009 at the premises of MSME. The main goal of this workshop was to bring awareness in COWE members on various quality programs and encourage our members to adapt these in their manufacturing sector and to become more competitive.
Mr.S.K.Verma explained about lean thinking and five lean principles:
Mr.Chandra Shekar, Deputy Director, MSME motivated the participants with his presence. All the participants who attended the workshop were extremely happy to learn about lean manufacturing. This has taught them how they can control the 8 kinds of wastages in their manufacturing. How they can improve the quality and quantity of their production and also cut costs by effectively controlling wastes. They felt that by implementing lean manufacturing in their industries they could increase their profits and also become competitive in the market.
Franchise Seminar organized by COWE in association with Indian Franchisee Association - 11th April 09 :
The main goal of this event has been to promote entrepreneurship through Franchising, especially amongst women, to enlighten the participants on the various franchising opportunities, the financial nitty-gritties involved and the legality involved in franchising.
Franchising is a growing field and in India the growth rate is at present 35-40%. In these days when IT industry is shrinking due to recession and a ripple effect seeping into other sectors, investments are becoming conservative. Franchises are giving an opportunity to have the benefit of a backing of a big enterprise and being an independent entrepreneur. Secondly, for franchisors, it is an opportunity to maximise sales with hassle free retailing. COWE members are exploring some of the opportunities based on the Women franchisors sharing their experiences. This has definitely accentuated the confidence levels of the members. Indian Franchise Association has signed an MOU with COWE leading for further interactions.
  
 Modern Office Management at Karl Kubel Institute for Development Education, Coimbatore:
26th & 27th April 2009. COWE’s staff have been given training in office management with the support of ZDH wherein they gained knowledge on the workings of an organization, the ‘Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges’ and how to perform better and communicate better. Dr.Radhakrishnan and Ms.P.Bhuvaneshwari conducted the two day training.
Meeting with Swiss Delegates – 10 April, 2009 was held at Chiraan Fort, Begumpet, Hyderabad on the April 10, 2009.
Delegates from Business School from Switzerland visited India and met COWE members to know more about entrepreneurship in India. Ms.Uma Ghurka addressed the meeting followed by sharing of personal success stories by Ms.Suman Kumar and other COWE Members. An interactive question/answer session at the end and exchange of experiences, by both members and delegates, provided an insight into entrepreneurship in both the countries.
Food EDP Programme at Rajahmundry: 15th June 09 to 25th July 09.
COWE has conducted Entrepreneurial Development Program in processed food sector from 15th June 09 to 25th July 09 at Rajahmundry in collaboration with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gujarat.
Food EDP Programme at Hayathnagar : 22nd June 09 to 01 August 09.
Another Entrepreneurial Development Program was organized in processed food sector from 22nd June 09 to 01 August 09 at Hayathnagar in collaboration with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gujarat.
ASSOCHAM organized a Food Summit on 28th and 29th July, 09 at Oberoi, Delhi with Knowledge Partners KPMG.
This Summit was attended by Ms.Sandhya Reddy and Ms.Suman Kumar. Key contacts were made and information on Food related sectors were added to COWE’s data base.
COWE Trade Carnival 2009: 10th October to 12th October’09:
Third in the series of annual fairs being organized by Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE) with the support from the Government of Andhra Pradesh and ZDH/Sequa partnership programme of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.
Trade Carnival, aimed at showcasing the varied products of women entrepreneurs from India and abroad, was acclaimed as an exhibition with a difference both by the stall holders as well as by the visitors and delegates. The platform also allowed participation of commercial ventures and franchising organizations to provide variety and entrepreneurship opportunities. The special feature of Trade Carnival 09 was the exclusive pavilions for Loan Mela, Franchisee Opportunities and COWE’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Pavilion for aspiring entrepreneurs. The main goal of this event was to widen the market opportunities for all the participating businesses and to promote entrepreneurship, especially among women.
COWE Trade Carnival 2009 features and experience:
• Air-conditioned Structure had 135 stalls in all (inclusive of 3 COWEs exclusive pavilions) provided at subsidized rates exclusively for women to display their products manufactured or traded by them or for franchises, 32 Commercial Stalls and Food Court for one and all. The stall specifications were 3m x 3m and 2m x 3m
• NSIC Pavilion had 25 sponsored stalls at subsidized rates exclusively for women to display their products manufactured or traded by them
• NABARD had their subsidized stalls for their crafts women to show case their products
• Loan Mela Pavilion was set up which had the following banks interact with prospective entrepreneurs and highlight their schemes for benefit of women entrepreneurs
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State Bank of India
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State Bank of Hyderabad
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Punjab National Bank
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Axis Bank
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Small Industries Development Bank of India
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Micro Small and Medium Enterprises
• Indian Franchisee Association had exclusive pavilion of 12 stalls from leading brands offering their franchisee options specially for women entrepreneurs
• Additional features consisted of
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An exclusive arena for entertainment
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Cultural events, dance and music programs to enthrall the participants
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Choicest food from Food Court
- On display were colorful fashion designed women wear, art ware, trinkets, footwear, home need products, decoration products and handicrafts and many more consumer durables
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Additionally, COWE’s Entrepreneurial Opportunities Pavilion, was set up at the Trade Fair, to provide guidance on setting up and running a successful venture and to obtain feedback on areas where women needed help in their ventures. Start-up information kit and sample entrepreneurial projects ranging from low-skill, low-cost home based businesses to relatively high skilled, requiring moderate investments were discussed. 10 businesses shared their business development growth plans with interested participants, who could sign up business partners.
• Government of Andhra Pradesh, ZDH/Sequa, SBI, SBH, NSIC, Radio Mirchi, Lanco, GVK, Margadarsi Chits Limited, Punjab National Bank, SIDBI, APSFC and Pragathi Printers have sponsored the event by way of providing publicity material and by donating in cash or kind.
• Wide publicity in the media and by way of hoardings and posters attracted a foot fall of over 15000 visitors
Retail Linkages: A Full Day Seminar, organised by COWE, on the 21st November 2009 at Hotel Novotel, Kondapur, Hyderabad
The concept of this seminar emerged from COWE’s mission to provide entrepreneurs with information and data through eminent speakers and to help them access retail chains.
The purpose of our seminar was to
• Enable our members to get a thorough overview of the processes involved in becoming a part of the retail supply chain whether in terms of vendor registration requirements or in production processes
• Identifying suitable packaging for their product – economical, attractive and proper
• Understanding desired quality levels - National and International Standard requirements
• Certification/Quality, an essential requirement for credibility and repetitive orders
• Possible Engagement models that they can adopt
• Technology suitable for their product
• Private Labeling and its importance in branding
• The right time to market and the procedures for becoming a vendor
COWE’s effort was also to provide entrepreneurs with direct access to retail chains, to provide an opportunity for our members to hear eminent industry speakers on the expectations from suppliers and the contours of relationship of buyers and sellers. An interaction of buyers and sellers was also encouraged with big supply chains chalking out their requirements.
Eminent Speakers from among major retail chains who chaired the seminar were - Mr.Niranjan Duggirala, Dy.General Manager, Reliance Industries Ltd.; Mr.Rajnish Kumar, Business Manager, ABD, ITC – Marketing; Mr.Vipul Bhushan, Head-Buying & Merchandising (FMCG & Staples), Heritage group; Mr.Sandeep, from Ratnadeep Super Market; Ms.Surya Jyothi of Fud Tek Consulting Services – a Food Technology Consulting firm .
Prospective and existing retail entrepreneurs gained a lot of exposure in the field of retail marketing by the end of the seminar.
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