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Targum Shlishi Supports Entrepreneurship Through E-Commerce Training for Jerusalem Businesses

Targum Shlishi helped to conceive and is now helping support an initiative of MATI Jerusalem Business Development Center to promote business entrepreneurship and business success through e-commerce training for small and medium-sized businesses in Jerusalem. Aryeh Rubin, Targum Shlishi’s director, suggested that MATI direct efforts towards educating businessowners about online marketing, as it was overlooked in this sector. Targum Shlishi has long focused on advocating for and supporting the integration of technology to its grantees, from the early days of helping fund websites, to supporting online marketing campaigns, to awarding grants to many digital educational initiatives.

“E-commerce and digital marketing are now a core component for most businesses. However, we have found that many business owners in Jerusalem are behind the curve and in need of significant education and training in this area,” says Michal Shaul Vuleg, deputy CEO and business development director of MATI Jerusalem Business Development Center.

In the past several months, MATI developed a course in e-commerce designed to provide business owners with the knowledge and tools necessary to do business online; the course just launched, and as of mid-February five sessions had been held. A diverse group of nineteen hand-picked particpants are enrolled, all of whom exhibit entrepreneurial abilities as well as the potential to benefit significantly from the course, which is tailored to the needs and knowledge base of the city’s business owners, many of whom are not familiar with the digital landscape. The results-oriented program is intended not only to teach business owners abut e-business platforms, but to provide them with the necessary tools and support to sell online by the end of the course.

“We are living in the digital age, when doing business online is not only expected, but increasingly necessary,” says Aryeh Rubin, Targum Shlishi’s director. “In Jerusalem, the need is intensified because so many of these businesses rely on tourism and foot traffic, and have weathered losses tied to recent fluctuations in both—political and security events in the region can result in business losses that can decimate a small business. Providing these merchants with the knowledge and skills to create e-commerce sites is necessary for the continued survival of many of them. MATI is performing an essential service with this course.”

Among the topics covered in the course are current business models, security and quality assurance, website design strategies, payment systems, and internet marketing. Participants learn about e-commerce from the ground up, including e-marketing, e-payment, e-commerce platforms, process and delivery of orders, and business process management.

During the course, participants receive sixty hours of group training and also work with individual business mentors for five hours. By the end of the course, business owners understand how to set up an interactive website, display their product catalogue, use shopping carts, and handle credit card transactions online. The course provides them with the skills required to build an online store and to create an effective online presence.

MATI Jerusalem Business Development Center has a strong track record of providing professional guidance and personal encouragement, and since it was established in 1991 it has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners with a variety of services. In addition to training and mentoring, MATI also consults with new or expanding businesses and provides access to business loans for merchants.

About MATI Jerusalem Business Development Center
MATI Jerusalem Business Development Center was established in 1991 to help entrepreneurs and business owners set up or expand enterprises in Jerusalem. Launched at the initiative of Teddy Kollek, who was then-mayor of Jerusalem, MATI Jerusalem is Israel’s largest and most prominent business center, and has served as a model emulated by twenty-five additional small business support centers throughout Israel. For more information, visit its website at www.mati.org.il.

About Targum Shlishi
Targum Shlishi is dedicated to providing a range of creative solutions to problems facing Jewry today. Premised on the conviction that dynamic change and adaptation have historically been crucial to a vibrant and relevant Judaism and to the survival of its people, Targum Shlishi’s initiatives are designed to stimulate the development of new ideas and innovative strategies that will enable Jewish life, its culture, and its traditions to continue to flourish. For more information on the foundation, visit its website at www.targumshlishi.org. Follow Aryeh Rubin, Targum Shlishi’s director, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Aryeh5.

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