Cebuana Nanay Luz hailed as microentrepreneur of the year national awardee by City Savings Bank

City Savings Bank has hailed Luzviminda Sunit, a dried fish vendor from the sugarcane town of Medellin in northern Cebu, as a micro-entrepreneur of the year national awardee.

“Nanay Luz,” who started a venture into the dried fish business with an initial capital of ₱4,000, was among 10 Filipino micro-entrepreneurs honored at the 18th Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards.

“I would take the basin full of fish and peddle it around town to make a sale and in 1975, I eventually ventured into making dried fish or ‘buwad’ with an initial capital of ₱4,000,” said Luz.

Nanay Luz’s determination, optimism, and confidence led her to different people and institutions that helped her acquire a loan from the First Agro-Industrial Rural Bank (FAIRBANK) in Bogo City, Cebu to expand her dried fish business.

FAIRBANK is an affiliate of City Savings Bank and focuses on addressing the needs of rural communities by offering easy access to capital for micro, small and medium enterprises.

With the help of FAIRBANK, Nanay Luz’s business became successful with her products now available in the public markets of Medellin, Bogo City, and Leyte.

She now has over 20 workers, some of whom lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

City Savings Bank underscored the businesswoman’s resilience—amid the current crisis, she remained unshaken and innovated her business approach.

“We had to shift to delivering directly to our customers to make better sales,” said Nanay Luz.

Nanay Luz’s journey, which has become an inspiration to other SMEs and a moment of pride for Visayan micro-scale traders, has received distinction from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno and Citi Philippines chief executive officer Aftab Ahmed.

“We take this occasion to recognize our microentrepreneurs who, despite the odds, have shown great resourcefulness, courage, and resilience to flourish amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Diokno in the awarding rites.

The bank has been supporting Nanay Luz for the past 17 years.

“It is a distinct privilege for FAIRBANK to have been a part of the success of CMA National Awardee Luzviminda Sunit in growing her microenterprise over the years. She was able to nurture a dried fish backyard venture into a prosperous trans-island operation,” said William Amado Castañom, FAIRBANK president and chief executive officer.

SOURCE: PNA