Residents of rural communities close to the Pecém Thermal Power Plant, controlled by EDP, have been trained since September through the entrepreneurship course and the financing of their own business. The Young Rural Entrepreneur Program (PJER) takes place in the municipality of São Gonçalo do Amarante (CE), serving young people aged between 18 and 32 years who have completed high school and who live in rural and near rural communities of Parada, Pecém, Siupé, Taíba, Croatá, Violete or at the municipal headquarters and who are in a situation of socioeconomic vulnerability.

One of the highlights of this edition is the percentage of women registered. In all, there are 18 out of a total of 30 participating students, which contributes positively to female entrepreneurship and the promotion of the economy in the region. Among the business ideas presented by the students are sheep farming, beachwear shop, grocery store, perfumery, barber shop, pizzeria, diner, etc.

With completion scheduled for March 2021, the program is carried out by the social organization Agência de Desenvolvimento Econômico Local [Local Economic Development Agency] (Adel) with funding from EDP and support from the EDP Institute. The Business Protagonism and Entrepreneurship and Social Environmental Impact Course is free and taught in São Gonçalo do Amarante/CE, with hybrid training (with face to face and distance learning sessions, obeying all health and safety recommendations in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic) . Altogether, EDP is investing R$ 95 thousand in the project.

Financial resources

The Business Protagonism and Entrepreneurship and Social Environmental Impact Course gathers information and tools that help young people in the preparation of their business projects, whether for economic or social purposes.

After the course and with the Business Project in hand, young people will be able to access financial resources in the Veredas Fund, a microcredit strategy developed by Adel, which will receive financial investments from the EDP Institute. Each idea to be implemented may receive resources up to R$ 3,000.00

In addition to financial support from the EDP Institute, other articulating partners also support the implementation of the program, such as the Association of Pecém Families (ASFAP) and the Municipal Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CMDCA) of São Gonçalo do Amarante.

The Young Rural Entrepreneur Program (PJER)

The program creates opportunities for the development of enterprises by young entrepreneurs through an integrated approach. Since 2009, it has provided adolescents and young people, aged between 14 and 32 years, access to knowledge, targeted credit, networks and technologies, strategies considered appropriate by Adel for its activities in rural communities. The initiative has already benefited around 3000 young entrepreneurs. Most of these young people remain in their communities. Having been applied in Ceará for ten years, in 2019 the Program consolidated its expansion process to Amazonas and this year it will also be held in two public educational institutions in Rio Grande do Norte.

About IEDP

Since it was founded in 2009, the Instituto EDP has invested more than R$ 100 million in social cultural projects, which have benefited about three million people, in about 400 programs throughout the country. Only in 2019, the initiatives supported by the organization favored 82,000 residents of the communities surrounding the Company's areas of operation. The Instituto EDP is responsible for structuring EDP's investments and social initiatives on fronts related to the valorization of the Portuguese Language, education, local development with income generation, entrepreneurship and volunteering, by means of sports, culture and health.