With strong attendance and high participation levels, the new cycle of Alpha Bank Small Business Workshops has begun, confirming the importance of this initiative for supporting small and medium enterprises in leveraging available funding opportunities. Specifically, in two consecutive workshops held in Athens, more than 60 entrepreneurs had the opportunity to receive detailed information about available financing tools and how to utilize them. The meetings were attended by the Director of the Special Coordination Service of the Recovery Fund of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, Orestis Kavalakis, who delivered brief remarks noting: “The Recovery and Resilience Fund loans also concern small and medium enterprises. Despite what is written and said, the data speaks for itself. More than 50% of the loan contracts that have been signed are loans to small and medium enterprises. This practically proves that the Fund is not only about large investments, but is here to support small businesses that form the backbone of Greek production and employment. I also point out that the Recovery Fund is nearing its end. The opportunity is unique and time-limited. Businesses with mature and viable investment plans must act immediately.”
Alpha Bank’s Chief Retail Client Strategies Officer, Panagiotis Georgiopoulos, stated: “With these informational actions, we confirm once again the support and tools we have available for small and medium entrepreneurship. With appropriate expertise, Alpha Bank offers guidance and financing solutions, and supports the development and implementation of sustainable, high value-added investment plans.”
The Bank’s Chief Retail Distribution Officer, Maria Papageorgiou, emphasized in her speech: “At Alpha Bank, we consider proper information for small and medium enterprises regarding emerging opportunities and available tools to be critical. Through financing tools and a broad network of information and advisory services, the Bank stands as a supporter of business efforts for development, growth, green transition, corporate governance and extroversion.”
For his part, Small Business Banking Director Alexandros Tolias, who was the main speaker at the workshops, stated: “We are very happy that this Bank initiative has received such a warm response for two years now from entrepreneurs across the country. As a Bank that has linked its name with Greek entrepreneurship, we place special emphasis on supporting small and medium enterprises, which are the foundation of our economy. Through a consultative approach, we examine each business individually and create together the conditions for sustainable investments that enhance development and create new jobs.”
Dialogue and information
Each workshop was attended by 30 clients – small businesses, where through interactive discussions they had the opportunity to be informed by Alpha Bank executives about the macroeconomic prospects of the domestic economy, trends in important business sectors, and ways to utilize available developmental financing tools.
At the same time, Bank executives together with representatives from the Partner Ecosystem it has developed (Consulting Ecosystem) offered mentoring and expertise for optimal utilization of developmental program resources, as well as financing tools such as those available from the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB) and the European Investment Fund, with the aim of implementing sustainable investment plans.
Also, after the completion of each workshop, Alpha Bank executives had one-to-one meetings with clients, providing mentoring and personalized consulting adapted to each business’s needs.
The Small Business Banking Workshops cycle continues dynamically, with Santorini and Heraklion, Crete as the next stops, following the successful completion of a similar action in Kefalonia, thus expanding Alpha Bank’s support for small and medium entrepreneurship throughout Greece.
