Peak Enterprise Program

Supporting Environmentally Responsible
Economic Development

Program History and Current Operations

The Peak Enterprise Program works at the intersection of environment and development to build sustainable and profitable economic activity in sensitive mountain areas. The program partners with local community cooperatives, groups, businesses and/or entrepreneurs to form or strengthen their businesses and understand their markets. The program uses a variety of tools, including a “sub-sector” methodology, which has proved effective in removing obstacles facing a given sector, thus helping a wide variety of businesses. We also help to establish and develop environmentally based businesses, such as high altitude biogas greenhouses (for growing winter vegetables) and new “green” construction technologies.

Peak Enterprise Program activities were first introduced in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China on an initiative to develop private business expansion in three major sectors of the local economy. It was conceived as a multifaceted “learning laboratory” to see what enterprise development approaches and interventions might work in Tibet’s fluid and transitional economy and which approaches might be applicable to TMI’s other programs. Program activities were piloted with the Tibet Federation of Industry and Commerce between 1996 and 2005. Work focused on the development of the Dairy, Rural Construction and (Environmental and Cultural) Tourism sectors and the development of small and medium sized private (non-public) businesses and markets within them.

Some of the Peak Program’s successes include: Establishing the first private dairy cooperative owned and managed by poor Tibetans; delivering market-driven vocational training to more than 1500 Tibetans in dairy collection, milk processing, business planning, handicrafts, greenhouse management, green rural construction technology, eco-tourism, bio-gas, enterprise development, lending, and finance; arranging the first conference on the development of the private sector with international experts (namely The Center for International Private Enterprise) in 1997; introducing sustainable lending practices to the regional Bank of China which resulted in more understanding of micro-lending and “best practices” throughout the financial community; developing a new rural agriculture and conservation model; transferring profit-maximizing, environmental technologies to Tibetan construction industry; designing innovative funding mechanisms; introducing “rammed earth” technology to Tibet for low income housing construction; developing high altitude bio gas greenhouses for growing winter vegetables and producing home heating fuel.

Planned Expansion

Building on the past Peak experience, TMI will create a mountain enterprise development program to provide technical assistance to communities and entrepreneurs throughout TMI’s program areas. New work is already underway in Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. This includes projects in agro-business development and cultural heritage tourism. This program will also contain a sub-grant component to develop innovative enterprises and new legal and financial models to support enterprise development and strengthening in the mountains of southwestern China.

The Peak Enterprise Program in China has served as TMI’s learning laboratory for developing private sector initiatives in mountain communities. Enterprise staff will help regional programs to develop or strengthen the economic activities within their programs. Staff will work closely with program directors to either take existing projects to the “next” level, (i.e. attracting investors or bank loans), or start a new projects that address a triple bottom line of economic profits, and environmental and social responsibility.

Strategic Partners

The Peak Program is currently cooperating with Aid To Artisans, Action for Enterprise, The International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), The Global Environment Institute of China, and The Nature Conservancy. While implementing our pilot program in the Tibet Autonomous Region, major partners included the Tibet Federation of Industry and Commerce, Land O Lakes, Inc., The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the International Crane Foundation. Gradually we are developing linkages to private sector companies and plan to work with a growing number of them as we develop agro and tourism businesses in rural China. We are also working with private sector partners in China to manufacture “rammed earth” machines to promote environmentally friendly building practices in low-income, rural areas. The same is true for biogas greenhouses.