The workshop “Connections: New Business Narratives”, focused on impact entrepreneurship, was held last October 17 and 18 in the Guamá Science and Technology Park (Guamá STP). The event had the partnership of the Guamá STP itself, the Program of Incubation of Technologically Based Companies (PIEBT) of the Innovation and Technology Agency of UFPA and the Institute of Corporate Citizenship (ICE).

The program was aimed at a broad audience: managers, consultants, students and stakeholders of impact and innovation businesses. During the two days of the event, three lectures and four roundtables were held with the themes: creation and financing of business impact, value generation, experience reports and maker culture.

According to Iara Neves, Coordinator of PIEBT, the event was the first step in the work that will be carried out jointly between PIEBT and Guamá STP in relation to the issue of impact business. In addition, the workshop served to provoke all local actors to network with the purpose of stimulating and supporting business models that have as their essence the solution to social and environmental problems.

“Both PIEBT and Guamá STP participated together in a selection process called ‘Incubation and Impact Acceleration’, in which they developed a plan of action with thematic to be addressed in their agendas. In this action plan the workshop was designed to sensitize the people of the region more widely. The performance of businesses with social and environmental impact is fundamental that happens in a national way. This theme has been treated very much in the southeast region, but what we have realized is that if we really want to solve Brazil’s social problems on the scale we would like to, then we need to disseminate this discussion throughout the country”, said Fernada Bombardi, executive manager of ICE .

Investors who came from outside the state to follow the development of the work were also satisfied with the result that the workshop presented. For Gabriela Chagas, representative of Vox Capital, the event served as the beginning of a partnership that tends to work in the investment and business impact relationship in the North region.

“It was a phenomenal event. I have seldom seen a schedule where the various things happen simultaneously, from deep in agro on the acre to Fab Lab in Ireland. We had two days of a diverse and interesting schedule. As an investor in São Paulo, I am very frustrated when we only have projects in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. We recently made a deal with a business in Salvador and we believe it is valid to cover this area of activity, so if we can make a deal with a business in Pará we will be very happy”, Gabriela Chagas said.

The event was a great opportunity for local actors to experience and share experiences, such as Joice Cursino, who seeks to delve more deeply into the impact business theme to bring this subject to the neighborhood of Jurunas, where she lives since her childhood and hopes, soon, to work with it and generate a social return.

“The workshop was an incredible experience. I was able to meet people who make things happen, it’s very difficult to find people like that. I studied my whole life in a public school, and with a lot of effort I was able to get in the university. I have a foot in both worlds, in business and in my community, the neighborhood of Jurunas. So I breathe impact business because it’s a subject that really interests me and I want to work to make a return to where I came from. I took advantage of the workshop and I have already made some partnerships, after all nobody does business impact alone”, said Joice Cursino.

Text by: Lucas Muribeca – Universitec
Translation by: Matheus Castelo Branco – Guamá STP