What is GBB?

Global Business Brigades (GBB) is a chapter of an international network of university clubs that travel to developing countries to provide business solutions and micro-finance capital to small, struggling businesses with limited access to resources. Our current emphasis is in the country of Panama, where GBB pairs student groups up with local nonprofits and NGOs to identify in-need enterprises and deliver sustainable solutions.

Although Panama is one of Central America’s fastest growing economies, poverty rates have been slow to fall because of unequal access to market opportunities. Those cut off from the market economy—unskilled laborers, subsistence farmers and members of the informal sector—have not benefited from economic growth due to lack of secure market connections. Panamanian villagers have created very small businesses, or micro-enterprises, in hopes of escaping the current cycle of poverty in Panama. Unfortunately, without seed capital and technical assistance, many of these micro-enterprises barely produce enough money to make a difference or even to feed one family. This is where Calvin College Global Business Brigades comes in!