"We will discover and nurture outstanding small business owners nationwide based on local resources."
The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) said on the 26th that it will recruit participants for the "Local Studio" project, which nurtures promising region-based brands in partnership with Naver.
This project aims to identify small business owners with high growth potential based on local agricultural and specialty products and local resources, and support them from product development and branding to sales channel expansion. The support scale is about 1 billion won, and the project was planned to strengthen the competitiveness of local small business owners and establish a foundation for sustainable growth.
In particular, chef Kang Leo will participate in the project and join the overall process of product planning and branding. Selected participants will receive practical growth support programs, including product development consulting, commercialization support, and opportunities to enter pop-up stores.
The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) and Naver have promoted various win-win cooperation projects through business agreements, including discovering and nurturing local small business owners, supporting digital transformation, and providing promotion based on short-form content.
The "Local Studio" project is also part of a follow-up cooperation initiative to grow hidden, excellent regional brands into local brands with nationwide competitiveness. The two organizations plan to actively discover excellent products and brand stories of local small business owners and provide linked support for online promotion and sales channel expansion by leveraging Naver's platform and content capabilities.
Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) Chair Song Chi-young said, "There are many excellent producers and brands in the regions that are not yet well known but have competitiveness and potential," and added, "We expect this project to become a new growth opportunity and a springboard for local small business owners."
Song added, "We will continue to pursue various win-win initiatives to enhance local small business owners' digital competitiveness and brand value through cooperation with Naver, and to provide practical support for sales channel expansion and growth."