DAVAO CITY—A family-owned enterprise on cleaning and sanitation products bagged an award from the Department of Science and Technology Region 11 (DOST-11) for outstanding performance during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The family enterprise EAST LA Inc. bested five other shortlisted enterprises for DOST’s Best Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) Adopter for Davao Region.
The shortlisted enterprises for the SETUP Adopters were adjudged on their “outstanding demonstration of productivity, resilience, agility, innovativeness, sustainability, and excellence amid the challenges of the pandemic,” DOST stated.
During the enhanced community quarantine here last year, EAST LA Inc. supported the medical and security front liners by providing gallons of hand sanitizers to Southern Medical Philippines Center and to the police and military checkpoints and other public areas.
The enterprise was headed by its president and chief executive officer, Ernest Karl L. Chua, after it was established in 2013 and exclusively trading cleaning and sanitation products to institutional clients. “The enterprise later expanded to manufacturing their own cleaning products, thus “transitioning the business to both trading and manufacturing,” DOST said.
In 2017, EAST LA Inc. applied for SETUP intervention to address the increasing demand and lack of equipment for a mechanized and more efficient manufacturing process, DOST said. Aside from the technology acquisition, the enterprise was provided with other interventions to improve product quality and marketability, increase productivity, and enhance their over-all competitiveness in the market.
The DOST said the SETUP interventions allowed EAST LA Inc. to engage in bigger operation and wider market scope through its broad range of cleaning products.
The virtual awarding ceremony on November 5 highlighted the Regional Science and Technology Week (RSTW) celebration. The enterprise received the plaque of recognition and P20,000 cash incentive. It would represent the Davao Region in the nationwide search for Best SETUP Adopter.