Innovations for manufacturing (I4M) activity within USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) aims at propelling the business of manufacturing and engineering companies in the region to the next level. We actively network locally to discover promising and established businesses, to partner with them, and extend tailor-made consulting, networking, and grant assistance with the goals to increase sales, diversify end markets, improve quality of jobs in the region and promote horizontal connections on the local, regional and international levels.

The manufacturing sector has historically been well developed in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts and we aim to support the revival of its strength and vigor. Our approach is to look deeply into every business define essential growth points where we can usefully contribute through consulting and grant support. Some of the examples of our projects with partners are assistance in:

• developing and implementing corporate branding
• building HR practices
• developing business strategy
• locating partners abroad and starting cooperation
• growing client base in Ukraine

Apart from that, we also contribute to the business development of our partners with grants.

I4M partners represent a diverse set of manufacturing sectors with pharma, heavy machine building, plastics, and building products to name just a few. When helping companies, we use our own consulting capacities as well as involve external independent consultants to scale up our efforts.

The first group of I4M manufacturing partners went through thorough learning and practical activities aimed at formulating long-term business strategies. These documents are our joint roadmaps on which we plan our support activities for their further development.

Our current list of strategic partners includes: