1. Community business
foundation
“The Silver Twiggies”
Entrepreneurship type – Producing
floristics/hobby materials out of
woodcutting leftover

2. What are we?
 NGO “Watermarks” was founded in 2007 and it functions
in a perfectly rural area – in Rubene pagasts, Jekabpils
county. The NGO occupies the former Kaldabruna
school that is situated 50 km away from the cities
Jekabpils and Daugavpils.
 Our main action fields:
 environmental protection and sustainable development,
development of civic society, art and culture, lifelong
learning.
 Our mission – development of the local community and
maintenance of rural environment as an attractive one.
 Much has been done during the 5 years since its
foundation – renovation of the old school building and
improving the infrastructure, carrying out activities, thus
making the organization famous on a regional level.

3. What we want to change?
 The first - k eep the local community alive and active by offering
additional ways of earning one`s living. Any educational, cultural
environmental protection activities may cease, if there are no employment
possibilities in the area. It leads to a rapid fall in the number of the
inhabitants, as well as to a deep social depression.
 Secondly, the NGO intends to secure its income on self-supporting basis in
addition to the grants. Moreover, personal participation in maintenance of
the organization that has already become a community centre, creates quite
a different attitude which is based on cooperation.
 In case of a successful implementation of this idea, it can be disseminated
in other populated places of Latvia as a solution to the development of
village entrepreneurship.
 By implementing this idea we intend to achieve
changes in the structure of the income of at
least a part of the local inhabitants by
substituting their present social loans with
wages.

4. How we do it?
 The NGO has the following idea of social
entrepreneurship - producing floristics/hobby
materials out of woodcutting leftover . Initially, for
the Latvian market, and gradually – for the market
outside its boarders.
 Target audience of production:
 - handicraft lovers and professional florists;
 - education institutions;
 - rehabilitation centers(art therapy; e.t.c.)

5. How we do it?
 We intend to start a separate structure within the NGO - Community
business foundation “The Silver Twiggies” .
 The foundation is responsible for the development of the above
given business idea – it creates a place for drying the materials,
arranges the process of their gathering and treatment, makes the
designs, secures the marketing, including some export.
 In the context of employment it is in favour of the NGO that people
who work in this business are involved as volunteers of the
organization until their monthly income reaches the level of a
minimum wage.
 We admit that the State Income Service may have a different
opinion in this respect. Still it is essential to remember the initial
point: to achieve changes in the structure of the income of
at least a part of the local inhabitants by substituting
their present social loans with wages. The existing NGO
legislation in Latvian permits such a solution.

6. Why we?
 The NGO is the centre of the local community,
the inhabitants trusting it.
 The aims and mission of the NGO coincide with
the given entrepreneurship idea.
 The type of the entrepreneurship is nature
friendly and sustainable, just proper to distant
Latvian rural areas.
 The offered type of entrepreneurship has a
significant potential for its multiplication and the
NGO has experience in implementing innovative
ideas, as well as, an experienced staff.

7. Why this buisness?
 45% of local territory are covered by woods.
T he woods in the area are being processed
intensively; the resources of the planned
production are the remains of the wood
processing. Consequently, they are accessible
in great amounts and they are cheap.

8. Why this buisness?
 The NGO has accessible rooms necessary for
the production, their costs are low, including
maintaining and heating expenses.
 The planned type of entrepreneurship needs
mainly unqualified labor force, this factor having
a vital importance in the local social situation.
 At the same time it offers qualified employment
for designing, making prototypes, marketing and
things like that, promoting the employment of the
youth and intelligent inhabitants in their native
area.

9. Our needs for start
 Our needs are fairly vast as the team has a
notable experience in managing grants but it
lacks experience in business.
Consultations/mentoring are needed in the
issues of making a prototype of the product,
estimating the price, marketing and advertising.
As the development of the idea involves export,
a “business angel” in these issues would be
highly desirable.
 Also - investment is necessary to start a
particular process.

10. Why are we supposed to
succeed?
 Our aim is to create a pilot model to
ensure the viability of the Latvian
countryside but not to obtain
personal profit.

11. Why are we
supposed to succeed?
 This way of life and business are:
 Promising and inspiriting
 Beautiful and ecological
 Real!

12. Thank you!