2023 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

In October 2019, the Quezon City Small Business and Cooperatives Development and Promotions Office (QC-SBCDPO) launched POP QC. While trade fairs are far from new, what makes POP QC different is its branding and what it stands for, Proudly Original Products of Quezon City. When the first POP QC trade fair kicked off, so did the vision of creating a community of micro and small businesses with unique products that proudly represent the city. 

The most important objective of POP QC is to empower non-organized citizens and communities. POP QC also values equality and diversity. Any business owner from Quezon City can register online to join POP QC. Through events, such as the Women’s Month Bazaar and the Mother’s Day Bazaar, the equality and diversity of business owners in the city is celebrated. 

To join POP QC, interested entrepreneurs are invited to register online. Then, the QC-SBCDPO contacts the entrepreneurs whose businesses were chosen to participate in the next POP QC event. Next, the entrepreneurs set up their booths and products for the event launch. After completing their first event, the entrepreneurs are considered fully fledged POP QC members and are invited to the POP QC Facebook group. There are over 100 businesses that are current permanent members of POP QC. 

In the implementation of POP QC, the QC-SBCDPO incorporates its three core competencies of money, market, and mentorship. This is how business owners are empowered to learn and continuously develop.

Since POP QC public market events resumed last December 2022, 147 businesses have participated across 8 POP QC events: Christmas and New Year Bazaar, Chinese New Year Bazaar, Kyusi Food Bazaar, Local Artisans' Fair, Women's Month Bazaar, Eco Market Bazaar, Mother's Day Bazaar, and Summer Food Bazaar. Overall, POP QC businesses across all events made PhP 11,005,993 worth in total sales. 

Mentorship opportunities are now being offered to entrepreneurs through specialized training on topics, such as good manufacturing practice, food safety, and basic marketing conducted with the help of the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Trade and Industry. A new program called POP QC Kolab was also launched to form a collaboration between designers from the Philippine Fashion Coalition/Fashion Accessory Makers of the Philippines and aspiring fashion designers from vulnerable communities.

Apart from the success seen in the total sales numbers, a survey was conducted in the POP QC Facebook group and answered by 112 members. The feedback of POP QC itself was overwhelmingly positive. Majority of the respondents were thankful for the opportunity to sell their products at prime locations in city hall and in local malls and hope to be invited to sell at more events in the future.

At the heart of everything POP QC, the goal is not just supporting small businesses, but taking pride in the quality of their products, which can match or exceed bigger business competitors. Most importantly, POP QC pursues to inspire people that every big success starts small.

https://quezoncity.gov.ph/ (External link)   

https://www.facebook.com/QCSBCDPO/ (External link)