Multi X and Sercotec Complete Second Round of Aysén SME Network, 20 Local Suppliers Certified

Chilean salmon farming company Multi X and the Sercotec Puerto Aysén business center held a ceremony on Thursday, November 5, to certify 20 local suppliers in the second round of the Aysén SME Network (Red Pyme Aysén), marking the close of the second round of this public-private partnership program. The program ran from August to November and was aimed at SMEs in the Aysén region seeking to improve their competitiveness, combining training workshops with personalized mentoring, entirely free of charge.

The first stage of the program began in August with a kick-off event and two workshops, on financing and on occupational safety and health and supply, respectively, with more than 40 suppliers taking part. From September onward came the "Multi X mentoring" stage, in which several company executives held 80 one-on-one mentoring sessions with the business owners who reached this stage, covering areas including supply, legal, finance and accounting, information technology, communications and control. Before this stage began, the company's mentors also received specialized training provided by Endeavor.

The ceremony was attended by suppliers, company mentors and several government and institutional representatives: Eligio Montecinos, presidential delegate for Aysén province; José Ignacio Mujica, executive vice president of Corfo; Maximiliano Mayol, head of the Economy Promotion and Tourism division of the Aysén region; Pamela Flores, regional director of Sercotec Aysén; and Patrice van de Maele, vice rector of the Inacap Coyhaique campus. Representatives of the regional government, Emporcha, Sence, Corfo Aysén, CFT Aysén and SalmonChile also took part in the event.

Multi X supply manager Daniel Santa Cruz said the company "plays a very important role" in Aysén, mainly by hiring local suppliers, and said the company seeks various ways to support suppliers in areas such as standards, finance, communications and projects so that they can achieve sustainable growth and become strategic partners of the company. Sercotec Aysén regional director Pamela Flores said completing this work together with Multi X "is very important to us," and said that throughout the process business owners committed to the initiative in order to strengthen their businesses.

Claudio Carrasco, general manager of Abisal SpA, one of the participating companies, said what he valued most were these spaces for dialogue; as entrepreneurs tend to become absorbed in their own businesses, but it is important to understand the needs of the industry and improve the services and products offered accordingly.

On the same day, a panel discussion titled "Hecho en Aysén: The Role of Local Suppliers in the Sustainability of the Aquaculture Industry" was held, moderated by Endeavor mentor Marcela Sepúlveda, with panelists including Multi X supply manager Daniel Santa Cruz, Corfo executive vice president José Ignacio Mujica, Inacap Coyhaique campus vice rector Patrice Van de Maele, and Aysén ROV administration and finance manager Alexis Alvarado.

A study on the economic contribution of the Chilean salmon industry prepared by CoMov Consultores for SalmonChile and published in November shows that Aysén is the region where the salmon value chain accounts for the highest share of the regional economy, at 21.4% of regional GDP and 19.3% of employment.