Each village has its own characteristics and economic potential. To that end, President University collaborate with the Central Java Provincial Government to improve the economy of the people in the three villages in the province.
“We saw a potential that can be developed. Together with the team, we developed a grand design to make businesses in these villages move forward and improve the lives quality of their citizens,” said Director of President Research Center Prof. Dr. Ir. Sony Heru Priyanto, M.M.
In realizing this collaboration, a team from President University visited the three villages recently. The team consists of the Director of the President of Research Center Prof. Dr. Ir. Sony Heru Priyanto, M.M, Agus Sofian Eka Hidayat, S.Pd., M.Ed., M.Sc, Richard Kuhon, B.Sc., S.Pd., M.A., Dr. Ir. Yunita Ismail Masjud, M.Sc., Donald Samuel Slamet Santosa, S.Pd., MM. M.Pd, Dindin Dimyati, S. Sos., MM., and Director of Development Center President Ir. J. Budhi Susetiyo.
The first village visited by the President University team was the Penadari Village in Grobogan District. On that occasion, the team saw the potential for spiritual tourism for Catholics in the village with two springs for prayer, one for men and one for women.
However, prayer facilities and spiritual tourism in this place have not been developed to the maximum. For this reason, with the help of the regional government and the President University team, the village is expected to be able to improve the facilities and carry out promotions well.
“In Penadari Village, we held journalism classes. We teach them how to use social media to promote their village tourism potential. I taught them how to write a short caption for promotional needs and Mr. Dindin taught them photography using mobile phones,” explained J. Budhi Susetiyo.
Besides Penadari Village, the village visited by the President University team was Banyusidi Village in Magelang, Central Java. Unlike the previous village which had spiritual tourism potential, this village had the potential to develop beetroot tourism. The President University team called this village the future beetroat tourism village.
Banyusidi Village people mostly work as farmers with beetroots as the main commodity. At present, they have developed beetroot products in the form of syrup and chips from their leaves. However, the processing method is still very traditional and the distribution system is still limited.
Here, the President University team also helped the community to be able to develop a distribution system so that their products can be recognized by more people. In addition, the team tried to provide alternative to create more beetroot product variants.
President University also visited a village in Boyolali Regency, Central Java. In this village the President University team created a supply chain concept to manage the management of agricultural products, from extracting raw materials to ready- to-be-marketed products. The crops produced in this village are rice, chili, eggs, and chicken meat.
During the visit, the President University team also signed a memorandum of understanding with the three villages. The scope of cooperation in this memorandum of understanding is assistance in improving product quality, sales & marketing, developing distribution networks, and making business projections.
“This is only the first step, of course the journey is still long. However, with the consistency and great enthusiasm between the villagers and the team, I am sure their business products and tourism potential will be better known and give them prosperity,” said J. Budhi Susetiyo.
This activity was also done by a team of which most of the members were lecturers as part of community service activities.
“In addition to fulfilling a lecturer’s obligation to undertake tridarma perguruan tinggi, it is a satisfaction when I can share my knowledge with the public. Especially seeing their enthusiasm, I am more enthusiastic to help them develop their village business,” closed Dindin Dimyatin who is the Head of Communication Study Program at President University.