Artisan Outreach and Business Training Seminars

This project builds on the Sevan Youth Club’s current involvement with Homeland Handicrafts and addresses the need to recruit more artisans and offer them better education and information.

The Sevan Youth Club will hold three types of seminars: Recruiting, product themes and business seminars.

Recruiting seminars: Three times a year, the Sevan Youth Club will hold recruitment and training seminars for new
artisans. These artisans will be taught the Homeland Handicrafts product-creation methodology and basic business model.

Product theme seminars: Seminars discussing product designs and themes will be held 6 weeks before each Homeland Handicrafts holiday bazaar to coordinate products and establish a strategy used by Sevan Youth Club artisans. Approximately five holiday bazaars will be held in the year.

Business seminars: Sevan Youth Club artisans will be invited to attend 3-4 seminars each year, teaching basic
business, marketing and accounting techniques. The timing of these seminars will be determined by timing of other seminars and artisan availability. Seminar topics will be determined by the immediate needs of the artisans.

This project will address two important issues in the Sevan community:

Alleviating unemployment:
Artisan recruitment targets those who are most in need of changing their financial situation. The recruitment seminars will be held in Sevan, specifically for Sevan-area artisans, giving them opportunities for employment.

Improving wages:
Empowering local artisans through education and trainings gives artisans the knowledge and avenues to be self-sufficient entrepreneurs, helping them to escape the shackles of low-wage labor markets and exploitation.