Economic Development through Technology, Workforce Skills, & Building Small Businesses

We are dedicated to working toward the end of severe poverty and chronic unemployment through economic empowerment programs. Our Technology Bridging and Enterprise & Workforce Development focus area provides a range of services that help connect communities with sustainable, life-improving technologies and empower micro-entrepreneurs and small business owners to grow their businesses to a more stable and sustainable level. We focus on incorporating green technologies into enterprise development to achieve the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits.

GTD can help you:

Perform market analysis

GTD performs a detailed market analysis for products by surveying customers in the target community as well as other key stakeholders in the field. We identify technologies that are 1) wanted and needed by the targeted communities, 2) economically accessible by the target market, and 3) able to be turned into a scalable and sustainable business model.

Improve your technology design and manufacturing

GTD helps tailor product designs to the target market, taking into consideration many technical and non-technical constraints that are crucial to achieving successful user adoption and product diffusion. GTD also helps to set up manufacturing facilities within the target markets, allowing companies to take advantage of locally available expertise and lower shipping costs, and contribute to job creation.

Get your product to emerging markets

GTD specializes in sustainable dissemination strategies for increasing innovation diffusion in emerging markets. We advise on business models that lead to more sustainable user adoption of life-improving, green technologies, as well as long-term growth strategies.

Promote small business development

GTD offers two mechanisms to help micro-entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their businesses: training programs and microfranchising. These services not only help the individual business owners, but they increase the business’ ability to employ others and contribute to the surrounding economy.

Recruit and train a workforce

GTD uses the Guarantee Trust Workforce Development model to provide 3 to 5 month long trainings that prepare future employees for their work environment. Students learn basic skills crucial to every work environment – including training in professional conduct, office orientation, workplace manners – as well as job-specific skills in an interactive program. The Guarantee Trust program produces graduates who can immediately start producing in their jobs.  The program has a 90% job placement success rate.

Support the economic empowerment of women

Women are often marginalized in developing countries, and yet a large number of households survive off of the hard but undervalued work of women. GTD works to ensure that women have an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from enterprise development and workforce skills programs.