Georgia’s post-pandemic economic rebound has been strong, but its benefits remain unevenly distributed. Growth has concentrated in major cities, while rural areas continue to face limited job creation, slow business growth, and persistent out-migration, particularly among young people and women. SMEs, which should form the backbone of rural economies, struggle to survive beyond their first few years. The problem is not a lack of entrepreneurial effort, but weak access to finance, fragmented business services, and low trust between entrepreneurs, service providers, and public institutions.
In response, Enterprise Georgia, the country’s lead public agency for enterprise development, has built a nationwide network of Growth Hubs designed to close these gaps. Rather than relying on one-off grants or generic training, the Growth Hub model combines diagnostics, tailored advisory services, and access to subsidised loans under one institutional umbrella. The objective is not just to support individual firms, but to strengthen the market systems and public capabilities that underpin sustainable enterprise growth.
The Growth Hubs emerged from lessons learned during earlier grant programmes. While grants helped some businesses invest, they proved too costly to run permanently, difficult to monitor, and insufficient to move firms toward commercial finance. Growth Hubs were conceived as a more scalable and durable alternative, anchored in diagnostics that reveal firms’ real constraints, linked services delivered through professional service providers rather than government staff, and finance through commercial institutions.
The Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) financed Rural SMEs Development Project (RSMEDP) has played a catalytic role in this transition. Building on an existing partnership with Enterprise Georgia, RSMEDP provided technical expertise, supported the design of diagnostic tools, strengthened service provider markets, and helped the agency adapt its operating model as the network expanded. Crucially, Enterprise Georgia retained ownership throughout; RSMEDP’s role was to facilitate learning, improve quality, and enable scale without substituting for public leadership.
By early 2026, the Growth Hub network had expanded from a single pilot to six operational hubs, with national coverage in sight. Early results point to improved business performance, growing uptake of advisory services, and increased access to finance for rural enterprises previously excluded from formal lending. Equally important are the institutional gains: stronger internal systems, a learning-oriented organisational culture, and durable government commitment beyond donor financing.
Georgia’s experience offers a rare example of a public agency delivering personalised, multi-service SME support at national scale. The lesson is not to replicate the model wholesale, but to recognise that sustainable enterprise support systems require long-term investment in institutions, patient partnerships, and disciplined focus on building capability, not just disbursing funds.
About Enterprise Georgia
Established in 2014 under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Enterprise Georgia is the main state agency promoting entrepreneurship. The agency supports business creation and growth by developing a nationwide network of regional Growth Hubs that provide entrepreneurs with accessible, high-quality advisory and support services. By partnering with financial institutions and consulting firms, Enterprise Georgia builds a stronger business services market and connects small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the resources they need. As the leading state agency mandated to support SMEs, Enterprise Georgia plays a pivotal role in shaping a more dynamic and inclusive business
support system across Georgia.
About Rural SME Development Project
Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) financed Rural SMEs Development Project (RSMEDP), expands income and employment opportunities in rural Georgia. Phase I (2021–2024) supported more than 3,500 SMEs with business services and finance access, enabling 1,428 enterprises to strengthen profitability and creating improved employment for 4,020 individuals. Phase II (2025–2028) builds on these results by diversifying business services, strengthening producer–buyer relationships, improving finance access, and piloting sustainable commercial financing. Through its collaboration with Enterprise Georgia’s Growth Hubs, RSMEDP demonstrates how public institutions can catalyse market transformation, enhance service quality, and foster inclusive development across Georgia’s rural regions.