Training in Romania

Romania’s Association of Employers and Manufacturers honored Bechtel for creating about 3,500 jobs at the Autostrada Transilvania project and for making a positive impact on the business community in Cluj.

The motorway project supports a nine-month program, called Financial Education and Business Development Consulting, that has helped people in rural communities learn to effectively manage money received from the government for land used in constructing the project.

Ten program participants learned how to build and sustain startup businesses and then develop business plans for an electrical and sanitary installation company, a pest-control firm, a furniture workshop, and other services. The project plans to continue supporting the program as it expands to other rural communities along the motorway, Sgarcitu says.

The project team also supports business training programs in Cluj, including a program called I Want To Be an Entrepreneur, which recently trained 11 teenagers from disadvantaged families in business skills. The teens started a company that made and sold 2,200 holiday cards. Much of the money they raised was donated to the Romanian Foundation for Children, Community, and Family, a cosponsor of the training program with the Danis Foundation.