Cambodian executive shares her business success

Written by Juanita Cousins
The Tennessean, Nashville

A Cambodian social entrepreneur visited Nashville last week to encourage business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to engage in business practices that will benefit the community.

Nguon Chantha spoke to Tennessee Global Health Forum, The Breakfast Club of Nashville, Lipscomb University’s Women’s Chapel and The Greater Nashville Business and Professional Women’s Organization, among other civic and business organizations at separate events.

“The message is that we are working with the community and everybody with non-governmental organizations,” Chantha said. “If we do something called social enterprise, a business run by the community that benefits the community will be sustainable.”

In 2003, Chantha developed Mekong Blue, a silk hand-weaving center in a remote province of Cambodia to create income-generating jobs for women.

The silk-weaving project became the Stung Treng Women’s Development Center, maker of Mekong Blue 100 percent silk scarves. The women earned a fair wage and received education for themselves and their children.

“What we are learning is a social enterprise like this … requires a lot of collaboration and teamwork with people everywhere,” Chantha said. With the help of the private Allen Foundation and St. David’s Episcopal Church of Nashville, Chantha has been able to sell the scarves through a website, bluesilk.org.

In 2009, Mekong Blue netted $112,000 in sales and $123,000 last year.

The women’s center has grown to serve 85 weavers and 200 children. The women are paid $75 to $200 a month based on their weaving experience.

The Vanderbilt Women’s Health Institute is using the company’s success and community outreach as a case study.

“The purpose of setting up the weaving center was to help young women escape from poverty, and as the weaving center grew, so did options for child care, nutrition and vocational skills,” said Ann Walling, head of the Allen Foundation.

“All of these things are necessary for people to overcome poverty.”

Contact Tennessean staff writer Juanita Cousins at 615-259-8287, jcousins@tennessean.com or Twitter.com/talljournalist.