Reply, Small Business Owners! ... Busan City to Recruit 'Stars' to Lead Local Markets This Year

Discovering 10 High-Potential Small Businesses to Foster Star Companies
20 Million KRW Support for Growth Strategy Mentoring, Product Development, Branding, and Marketing

Looking for Stars!

The city of Busan (Mayor Park Hyungjun), together with the Busan Economic Promotion Agency (President Song Bokcheol), announced that it will be holding the "2025 Busan Star Small Business Competition" from the 10th to the 24th.

The Star Small Business Discovery and Support Project aims to discover local small businesses with high growth potential and support them to become leading model companies representing the region. Now in its fourth year, the project selects 10 companies each year and provides tailored support.

The support is largely divided into marketing and commission fields. The marketing category includes ▲brand development ▲menu development ▲content production ▲market development and promotion, while the commission category supports ▲patent registration ▲trademark registration ▲certification evaluation, and more.

This year, Busan plans to select and support 10 Star Small Businesses. In particular, businesses closely related to daily life, such as those in the food, clothing, and housing sectors, will be given preference.

Last year, the selected companies were ▲Gaheonjeong (snack food) ▲Gungjung Haemultang Jossijip (seafood stew) ▲Daehyeon Sanghoe (sesame oil) ▲Baekro Anggeum (red bean paste) ▲Sonkkeut (beeswax wrap) ▲Yuping (T-shirts) ▲Toriatti (pet carrier bags) ▲Tieut (women's products) ▲Poseganz (shoes) ▲Hitte Roastery (coffee).

These companies saw an average sales increase of 41% compared to the previous year and an average increase of 1.5 employees, contributing to job creation. They also achieved results in market expansion, such as entering large domestic supermarkets and securing four export deals (worth 800 million KRW) through overseas home shopping and live commerce sales.

Companies selected as Star Small Businesses receive 20 million KRW in growth support funds, as well as mentoring from experts in each field, product development, branding, and marketing.

Starting this year, companies selected in 2023 and 2024 will be eligible for additional support, including up to 5 million KRW for networking events and collaborative project execution, to facilitate sharing of achievements and the realization of practical business ideas among companies.

Applications can be submitted from the 10th until 4:00 p.m. on April 24 through the Small Business Support Center website.

For more details on eligibility and other information, please refer to the announcement posted on the Small Business Support Center website or contact the center's call center.

Kim Bongcheol, Director of the Digital Economy Office of Busan, said, "With the selection of 10 more companies through this competition, we will have nurtured a total of 40 Star Small Businesses in Busan," adding, "We will provide systematic support so that a company representing Busan can emerge from among the Star Small Businesses and become a leading model for the regional economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.