Status and Guidelines for Developing the Strength of Community Enterprises for Local Economy Development in Nong Rong Sub-district, Phanom Thuan District, Kanchanaburi Province

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study status and situation, constraints, recommendations and development guidelines for the operation of community enterprises for local economy development. In-depth interview schedule, SWOT analysis, survey, focus group and group discussion techniques were used to collect qualitative data by purposive sampling from 18 community enterprise leaders or agents. The data were analyzed with content analysis. The result revealed that the community enterprise group in Nong Rong Sub-district was established into 3 characteristics including (1) establishing under the original group and family business, 2) establishing under government support policy and 3) establishing under a community leader who wants to solve economic problems in their community. The constraints for community enterprises’ product for local economy development include lack of clear operational plan and systematic group management, lack of skills in production management and product certification development towards standardization, lack of skills in marketing management, and lack of systematic accounting. Guidelines for the development of community enterprise operations consist of four approaches: 1) all member should be participated in group management, 2) products should be developed to have local identity, 3) marketing-led production approach should be used in group operations, and 4) accounting and financial system should be developed properly. Recommendations were that the government and concern officers should 1) have a concrete policy for the operation of enterprise groups and continuously monitor the group operation, 2) assess and support the community enterprise groups annually, 3) encourage the community enterprise groups through the group leaders by building networks, and 4) select the appropriate extension method to transfer technology