Market Changer

Acronym	MarCh
Project Number – MIS	5070788
Priority axis	1 - A Competitive and Innovative Cross-Border Area
Investment priorities	3a - Promoting entrepreneurship, in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators
Intervention fields	066. Advanced support services for SMEs and groups of SMEs (including management, marketing and design services)
Call	6th CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS
Lead Beneficiary	Agency for Transnational Training and Development
Beneficiaries	BULGARIAN INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL ASSOCIATION CENTER OF HELLENIC COMMERCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT FEDERATION OF COMMERCE & ENTREPRENEURSHIP OF THRACE REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION - KARJALI
Start Date	Apr 13, 2021
End Date	Oct 12, 2023
Budget	628.708,77 €
ERDF Contribution	534.402,45 €
National Contribution	94.306,32 €
Website	www.marchproject.eu

Despite the great changes taken place in the recent decades at global level (concentration of trade in a small number of worldwide acting retail chains, penetration of local markets by international businesses etc.), with a direct impact on local economies, MarCh assumes that local businesses still provide critical potentials, which if properly deployed may lead local enterprises to success and growth: product quality in some cases, low pricing in others, along with long presence and tradition in local markets, proximity to customers etc. can make up the basis for local SMEs to survive and grow. However what local businesses are missing is common strategies based on local advantages, diversification, adoption of innovation and know how, access to competences and skills, access to specialized experts, appropriate marketing strategies and schemes and access to other markets.
To meeting above shortages MarCh designs local growth strategies and visions, locates strengths and weaknesses at the local business communities and builds up Business Support Structures in the application areas. A bundle of activities (strengths – weaknesses’ diagnoses, business plans for existing businesses and startups, coaching and counselling along with training seminars) aim at upgrading business performance and competitiveness, while a series of tools at local and cross border level (e-market platform, digital data base for experienced professionals, labor market internet platform) improve the business environment in the two areas and enhance the Cross – Border aspect of the project. MarCh will be applied at a first stage for the enterprises of the Agro-Food sector as a pilot and results and achievements will be transferred to other sectors of the local economies as well as to other areas of the two participating countries.