About the project
The Jerusalem Foundation supported establishment of the Jersualem Business Development Center (known in Hebrew by the acronym MATI) in 1991 to strengthen and develop small businesses and entrepeneurship in the city. The center, originally called the Center for Business Entrepreneurship & Employment, was created in response to the wave of new immigrants, particularly from the former Soviet Union who settled in Jerusalem in the early 1990s.The center provides assistance in industry and crafts, trade, hi-tech, services and tourism. It offers courses and individual consultations, and provides small start-up loans. The center focuses on four of the city’s weakest economic populations: new immigrants, the ultra-Orthodox, east Jerusalem residents and soldiers who recently completed their army service. Since its establishment, the center has assisted nearly 25,000 entrepreneurs, more than 5,000 of whom have opened or expanded businesses.
