Pampanga SMEDC picks Rising Star awardees, Star Elite bets

Tuesday 17th of May 2011

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, May 17 (PIA) -- Pampanga Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council (SMEDC) recently picked the winners as well as its bets to awards under the SME Star Program.

Department of Trade and Industry provincial director Leonila Baluyut said Remzon's Organic Products and Deli Shop of Floridablanca and Granda's Sweets and Delicacies of Bacolor bagged the Rising Star prize in the micro and small categories respectively while Rolren's Lanterns and General Merchandise of the City of San Fernando, Ellen's House of Frame and Crafts of Apalit and Betis Crafts Inc. of Guagua will be the province’s nominees for the Star Elite crown.

Baluyut explained that the SME Star program recognizes entrepreneurs that have shown remarkable achievements in growing their businesses to become globally competitive enterprises.

The program, she added, confers three honors: Rising Star, Star Elite, and Star Presidential.

Rising Star is a provincial-level award that is given to enterprises that are compliant with government business regulations and have successfully entered the domestic market.

Respective Provincial SMEDCs screen and select the winners from the nominees submitted by its members, private individuals, business chambers and nongovernmental organizations.

Each province can have a maximum of three Rising Stars - one each for micro, small and medium enterprise categories.

Meanwhile, the Star Elite is a regional-level citation that will be handed to enterprises that have expanded or sustained domestic market presence and are ready to enter the export sector.

The regional SME teams will be in charge in determining the winners from the nominees submitted by Provincial SMEDCs.

Rising Star winners are not automatically nominated for the Star Elite as some of them might have failed to meet the prescribed standards of the prize.

Regional SME teams shall present the Star Elite award to three enterprises - one each for the micro, small, and medium categories.

The Star Presidential, on the other hand, is a national-level accolade that will be bestowed to one micro, small or medium enterprise that has successfully penetrated both the domestic and overseas market and continues to expand its market share.

Sole recipient will be selected by a board of judges from among the regional Star Elite awardees.

President Benigno Aquino III shall personally bestow the distinction to the Star Presidential honoree during the SME summit in July. (WLB/CLJD-PIA 3)