Young businessman Aygün Keskin, 29, is a partner in the winding company where he began his career as an apprentice. By using the loan they received through the FOSTER Project’s Employment Committed SME Finance Support Programme to buy raw materials, he hopes to increase their output. At a young age, Aygün Keskin began working as an apprentice at Gebze Aslan Bobinaj. He joined the company as a partner when his boss decided to grow the business. Aygün explains that they are operating in the winding, maintenance and renewal of electric motors that provide the rotation of the working systems of the casting, automotive and iron industries. The biggest problem, according to him, is a lack of qualified personnel. Noting that they are trying to overcome the problem through longer working hours, Aygün said “While factories are working in double shifts in Kocaeli, we work in one shift due to the small number of staff. We established our company on an area of 60 m2, then expanded it to 500 m2 and now our dream is to install our factory up 1000 m2 area.” They were able to purchase raw materials through the financial support they received as part of the FOSTER Project, and Aygün emphasises the convenient loan repayment terms in contrast to the difficulties they faced as a result of the fluctuating price of copper.