A Stitch in Time

Photo: Mercy Corps Serbia

Brus, Serbia - Many Serbs say that, the further south you travel in their country, the sadder the situation grows. But you wouldn't know that from meeting Nevenka Mihalovic.

Amid the forbidding black mountains and decaying socialist-era factories that cast a pall over her hometown of Brus, Mihalovic's house is warm, happy and buzzing with activity.

Not to mention, she's wearing bright orange slippers embroidered with the word "Love."

On a grey, snowy day in Serbia's deep south, Nevenka Mihalovic is smiling as she sews children's clothing. She's found her bliss, with a little help from Mercy Corps.

An unraveling economy

The end of socialism and dissolution of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia was an integral part, has been especially hard for the people around Brus. Just ten years ago, people were practically assured of decent-paying jobs at local factories or on state-subsidized farms. But sweeping changes in Eastern Europe - hastened by the Yugoslav Wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo - brought an abrupt end to the decades-old socialist economy.

Thousands of people in southern Serbia were suddenly without jobs. Families struggled to put food on the table. Local shops were closed and boarded up.

Both Mihalovic, who was a seamstress in a local shop and her husband, who worked at a factory, lost their jobs. Mihalovic continued to create clothing using an old sewing machine in her home, but couldn't sell enough merchandise to make ends meet.

Then one day she caught a glimmer of good news among the morass of depressing stories on the evening news. An American organization, Mercy Corps, was working in her area to breathe new life into local economies.

Mending lives

Mercy Corps' Economic Opportunities project - part of its Community Revitalization through Democratic Action (CRDA) program, funded by the USAID - was a perfect fit for Mihalovic. The project, founded in 2000, offers grants to unemployed people with marketable skills who are interested in having their own business. Since its inception, CRDA has helped more than 759,000 people in Serbia.

The day after she heard about the project on the news, Mihalovic went into Brus and picked up an application. She filled it out quickly, turned it in and waited to hear some news.

Soon, Mihalovic found out that her application had been chosen from thousands that had been submitted. Not long after that, she began the grant process by attending a three-day business seminar, sponsored by Mercy Corps, in Brus.

"The seminar was very useful. For the first time, I was able to look at my work as a small business," she says. "I saw things from a managerial angle and was able to ask appropriate questions about prices and my future goals.

"I learned how to analyze markets and find opportunities."

Mihalovic was a natural; in just a few days' time, she not only learned the tools to succeed in business, but also laid out her goals to building her own business into what she envisioned it could be.

"I'm determined, but realistic about expectations," she states. "First, we want to finish a new work space in our house. Next, we'll improve the production of our line of children's clothing by using better quality materials. The market is asking for better quality."

After the seminar was over and she had submitted her business plan, Mihalovic received her grant money from Mercy Corps and immediately went to Krusevac, one of the biggest cities in southern Serbia, to pick out and purchase two new sewing machines: one for herself and one for her husband.

A label of quality

Today, about a year after receiving her grant, things are going well for Nevenka Mihalovic. She's registered her business with the local government, so now she can sell directly to local stores. In addition, the registration gives her family much-needed benefits like health care and retirement insurance.

Her business, Anetex, even has its own label. And local families are beginning to recognize that label as a symbol of quality: she recently received an order for 1,000 pairs of boys' pants. Mihalovic estimates that, working with her husband, it will take about two months to fill that order. Many of the pants - made from corduroy or cotton - are already stacked up around her home, ready to be shipped out.

After this order is fulfilled, Mihalovic anticipates another contribution to the local economy.

"I want to hire two or three additional workers soon," she explains. "I can train them - just like I did my husband - and they can make a good living for their families."

With that, talk turns to our families - and I tell Nevenka I have a young son at home myself. She nods to her husband, who sorts through their stock to find a pair of grey corduroy pants and a matching jacket. With both of them smiling proudly, he hands me the clothes. I hold them up and admire them.

It looks like a perfect fit.

Your purchase of a Women's Small Business Kit helps hard-working women like Nevenka Mihalovic to attain their goals.