JP/9/NELLY

JP/9/NELLY

Nelly, housewife, teacher and successful businesswoman

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb The Jakarta Post/Padang

It came as a great surprise to 40-year-old Nelly Izmi, when she received the news that the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) was planning to award her for her entrepreneurial skills. The Perform Participatory Award was bestowed upon her earlier this month in recognition of her success in applying the "participative planning method" to improve regional competitiveness, particularly in Nagari Panampung, Ampek Angkek district, Agam regency, West Sumatra, where she started a small embroidery business 10 years ago.

"I never imagined receiving a award. I have done nothing special. I think it is just what you have to do as an entrepreneur," Nelly told The Jakarta Post.

The mother of three daughters, who was born in Panampung, Agam on May 8, 1964, has been credited with her ability to organize and manage businesspeople.

Nelly, unlike most women in Ampek Angkek -- which is located on the outskirts of Bukittinggi -- did not become an embroiderer straight after high school.

As an undergraduate student of the School of Pedagogy at Padang Teachers Training College (now Padang State University) in the mid-80s she was active in the Islamic Dynamics Study Group, an off-campus organization. Through the group, she became acquainted with Asma Naim, the wife of Dr. Mochtar Naim (a member of the People's Consultative Assembly). Asma encouraged her to become a member of the West Sumatra Islamic Women's Association executive board, marking the start of her commitment to improving the welfare of local women.

In addition, thanks to the Naims, she was active in Yayasan Amal Saleh (YAS), a social organization that channeled tithe and was involved in various community development projects. Nelly says she owes her organizational ability to her time with YAS.

Later, Nelly joined the Association for the Development of Islamic Boarding Schools and the Community (P3M) and was elected as the assistant coordinator of a program to improve the welfare of women in Sumatra. The program was implemented in 1987 with the assistance of a German funding agency.

In 1989, Nelly married Amrijon, now a Bukittinggi municipal administration official, and took a break from her managerial duties. Six months after her wedding, she graduated from college and started teaching at STIT Ahlussunnah, one of several private universities in Bukittinggi.

She spent the next seven years teaching and taking care of her family.

"When my youngest daughter was two years old and could be left alone, I thought I could do something else besides teaching. So, in 1994, I started an embroidery business, called 'Andari', with just Rp 2 million as capital," she said, adding that she initially employed just six people.

She had also toyed with the idea of being a chicken farmer but considered the risks too high. The birds could easily contract a disease, for example.

Eight districts in Agam regency, all located near Bukittinggi, including Ampak Angkek, are known as the hub of Sumatra's embroidery industry. There are some 2,000 small and medium businesses in the area that employ about 25,000 workers, 95 percent of whom are local women. In Ampak Angkek alone there are about 200 embroidery businesses.

"As there were quite a lot of embroidery businesses, the business climate was not so good. There was stiff competition and workers were often hijacked," she said.

The government, despite its own program to develop small and medium businesses, could do little to improve the situation.

Nelly decided to act on her own initiative and brought together 25 embroidery businesspeople in Nagari Panampung. In 1999, the group took the name of KUB-PSBP and she was elected as its chairwoman.

In April 2000, the group organized a seminar on the development of the embroidery business. A number of local officials -- from the Agam regent to village heads -- attended the seminar.

After the seminar, which was held at a cost of Rp 3 million, a sum collected from the group's members, all participants were given a decorative piece of embroidery as a souvenir.

"The souvenirs were a kind of promotion for us. Later, Agam regency sent our group to represent our regency in a bazaar held during the National Sports Games (PON) in Surabaya," Nelly said.

In November 2000, the group became a cooperative and again held a seminar at provincial level. Within a short period of time, the cooperative -- still led by Nelly, but now boasting 90 members -- developed well and received government recognition.

The cooperative secured a government loan, meaning it could later give collateral-free loans to its members. In that way, a number of embroiderers belonging to the cooperative could start their own embroidery businesses. Problems, however, remained.

"They did produce embroidered works but not all could be sold. There was market demand but not all the demand could be met. We had export potential but could not realize it. Besides, we still had to compete with other villages and districts in recruiting embroiderers," she said.

Other problems included expensive materials, price competition with similar products from other regions, for example, Tasikmalaya, and the preference of some embroiderers to find employment abroad.

Based on the recommendation of the Agam regental administration, the cooperative that Nelly led was chosen by Perform -- in conjunction with USAID's Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and the home ministry's directorate general of regional development -- as its partner in a local economic development program.

"We were really thankful to Perform as it changed the way we handled our problems. We could solve these problems and make progress together," she noted.

In 2003, thanks to the program, Nelly brought together a number of local embroidery businesspeople to set up the Agam Business Development Center and Training House (BDC & TH) -- again, she was elected its director.

"We are now trying to stop purchasing our materials in Bukittinggi and will buy them directly from the factories in Jakarta. That way we can cut our production costs and raise our production level. Also, we can tap our export potential," she said.

Today, Nelly is a teacher, a housewife, a cooperative leader and the director of BDC & TH. She once asked to resign from the factory but the members of its cooperation told her that they simply couldn't do without her.