On April 5, Ambassador Blake hosted at @america an event to honor East Bali Cashews as the recipient of the 2015 Secretary’s Award for Corporate Excellence in the category of Small and Medium enterprises. East Bali Cashews was founded by American social entrepreneur Aaron Fishman in 2012 and now employees about 350 villagers in East Bali and exports to eight countries.
The event featured a panel discussion with Fishman and his colleagues that highlighted to potential for social entrepreneurs to run profitable and sustainable businesses while having a dramatic impact on their communities. National TV, print, and online media outlets also turned out to cover the event, highlighting the importance this small business plays not just in boosting the local economy and promoting social entrepreneurship, but also in proving Indonesian small enterprises can compete internationally.
