The 28^th Annual Negros Trade Fair slated for September 25-29, 2013 returns to where it started – on an Ayala-owned venue.  From its humble beginnings in 1985 at the now defunct QUAD carpark, the Negros Trade Fair moves to one of Makati’s most prestigious addresses, the Glorietta Activity Centers.

Back in 1985, the Association of Negros Producers was established by 14 Negrense housewives and one gentleman.  It was a way to find new sources of income as the sugar industry was then waning.  The initial project was the holding of the “House of Negros” Trade Fair which was held at the QUAD Carpark located in what was then called the Makati Commercial Center.

From the first trade fair onwards, membership in the association grew exponentially and now they boast of a membership of 96 producers, more than 80 of whom are participating in the 28^th Negros Trade Fair.  Not only do these manufacturers produce for the local market but also for international clients as well.

The trade fair too has grown by leaps and bounds.  This is proven by the increased sales posted each year.

The trade fair exclusively highlights Negros-made products and has been held at different Metro Manila venues throughout the years.  It has become a staple to a lot of Metro Manila shoppers as a source of locally designed and manufactured products from fashion and garments, furniture and furnishings, gifts and housewares, and the scrumptious food for which Negros has always been famed.

Being one of those who experienced the Negros Trade since its inception, I think back and realize that the Trade fair was not just a matter of selling our wares.  Our major selling factor is the Negros Experience, our LIFESTYLE!

We have successfully impressed our customers how livin’ la vida Negrense should be.  How do I gauge this?  We have been in existence for 27 years.

Every year we are challenged to have something new to offer to our clients.  We are always evolving still with the same message…..appreciate life and what it has to offer.  Thus, the title Evolving Lifestyles!

Color Pallete: Emerald Green + Khaki

New Venue: Ayala Malls, Glorietta Palm Drive

Dates: September 25-30, 2013

For more details, email us at  evolvinglifestyles@gmail.com -Reena Pena or contact  09228534430

Zsazsa Veloso  – Secretariat

Booth concerns – Hazel

SALES SUPERVISOR
Western Visayas – Bacolod City

REQUIREMENTS:

Qualifications:

• College graduate of at least 4 year course; preferably Marketing or Business Administration graduate
• Adept with MS Office particularly MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint
• Preferably with experience in retail industry
• Creative
• At least 24 years old
• Male or Female
• Know Customer Service
• Can work with least supervision
• Fast learner
• Excelllent People Handling Skills

Please submit the following: Application Letter, Curriculum Vitae with recent 2×2 photo and Transcript of Records

Address to:

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

3/F, Lourdes C. Bldg., 9th Cor. Lacson Sts., Bacolod City

or e-mail to:  admin@anp-philippines.com

434.1000 | 476.4567

Inviting everyone to join us and get your fresh, naturally grown fruits and vegetables at Market Day every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM Parking lot of The Negros Showroom…

See you!!!

FINANCE OFFICER
Western Visayas – Bacolod City

REQUIREMENTS:

• BA/BS Degree in Accounting or Finance Graduate
• CPA is an advantage
• 3-5 years experience in Financial Management in supervisory or officer level
• Preferably with experience in micro-financing
• Excellent computer skills
• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
• Good analytical skills
• A leader and a team player
• Highly motivated and energetic
• Can work under pressure
• Goal oriented
• With good moral character

Please submit the following: Application Letter, Curriculum Vitae with recent 2×2 photo and Transcript of Records

Address to:

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

3/F, Lourdes C. Bldg., 9th Cor. Lacson Sts., Bacolod City

or e-mail to:  admin@anp-philippines.com

434.1000 | 476.4567

Our misery found good company. The EDSA Revolution promised us a second chance. It was like the aftermath of war, people giddy at rebuilding, convinced that things can only get better. It was an exciting time for the manug/ibod; the Negrense entrepreneur was now poised to spread her wings beyond the intermittent tiangge in Manila, beyond the intermittent Negros Trade Fair.

As soon as the manuglibods banded together as the Association of Negros Producers (ANP), these modern Negrense entrepreneurs worked at putting up another tiangge, this time a permanent tiangge to generate permanent sales.

In 1988, Negros Occidental Gov. Daniel Lacson, Jr., gave the ANP free use of the old Agricultural Extension Building to start the Negros Showroom. Two years later, the ANP moved its “Showroom” to the city’s main thoroughfare. Funds to fix up the new display were loaned by ANP members themselves. True enough, fantastic location delivered fantastic sales, and all loans were paid off within six months. Product designs were fantastic, too, with the Design Center of the Philippines bringing in consultants for advice. Before long, the Bureau of Domestic Trade promotions honored the Showroom as the country’s leading trade house.

The Negros Trade Fair also served as the manuglibod’s catapult to export trade. At first, the prospect found most ANP members in a jam; they were not prepared to finance volume orders. When, in 1991, Gov. Lacsongot wind of the catch-22, he urged the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center to provide a credit line for the members of the ANP. The hard-working, and now lucky, manuglibods never looked back since. In less than a year, 38  members were exporting.

Tickled, ANP producers joined the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions in 1992, and participated in trade fairs and missions In Frankfurt, Hong Kong, New York, Nuremberg, and Japan. Coming home, they Joined two more trade shows in Manila, ran the Negros Trade Fair, and produced a fashion show in Bacolod. It appeared, this export thing was impregnable.

It was not. After close to a decade of bumper export business, import tariffs were eased and copycats were let loose. They roamed the earth, penetrating international exhibitions without remorse. Egged on by astute buyers who were determined to land the lowest prices, the invasion of cheap copies came fast and furious. To help maintain presence at international shows despite the challenges, in 2002, three former ANP Presidents, China Gallaga, Millie Kilayko, and Marivic Rio, set up Negros Island, Inc., a company designed to consolidate the participation of ANP members in international trade fairs, thus spreading the expense. In just two years, NIl had joined three shows in Milan, one in Shanghai, and another in Dubai. Once more, this export thing seemed invincible.

ANP exports continued, but the thrill of the early 1990s would not be repeated. Missions to foreign shows revealed that ANP designs were indeed being mass copied at prices way below manufacturing costs of ANP members. The 1997 Asian financial flu, and later, the 2008 Wail Street investment banking collapse, also saw foreign orders being cancelled. And OFW remittances devalued the greenback, making export trade less attractive for ANP producers. All these depressed the export business of the manuglibod.

Just as well, for these pushed ANP producers to rationalize their exportable lines. Consultants guided them as they designed merchandise with higher perceived values. The weaves became intricate. The use of indigenous materials became intrepid. Small items gave way to larger pieces. ANP producers did everything they could to make their products harder to copy, harder still to refuse even during financially sad times.

While all that happened, a new revenue stream opened. Baby boomers began to retire and local tourism picked up. The manuglibods quickly sought markets in Manila and Cebu. They took to private labeling, creating products for famous stores: Rustan’s, Tesoro’s, Balikbayan, Kultura, Regalong Pambahay. Not to be outdone were gift shops in top-class hotels and resorts. Some even incorporated ANP creations into their high-end interior design.

ANP’s menu of food brands, always a hit at The Negros Trade Fair, likewise found regular outlets in the metro, like ECJ Farms at Tiendesitas, Casa Carmela at the Rockwell mall, and Hawaiian – Philippine Company at SM Supermarket. And since they moved easier, they found themselves in more cities throughout the archipelago. Major shopping malls in the country began to carry a wide selection of Negrense delicacies, and in remarkable variations. The ionic piaya was jazzed up in a gazillion flavours and shapes. With contemporary chic, its bite size version landed on the inflight menu of the country’s prenier carrier. The piaya took off, and with that, the manuglibod arrived.

Somewhere in the rush to delight foreign tourists, ANP products found an appreciative local following. The press helped, Lifestyle sections of national broadsheets cheered ANP products. Serious competition in the domestic airline industry resulted in bargain-basement tickets, fulfilling the call of one popular carrier that it was time everybody flew. Almost everybody did, flocking to Bacolod for festivals and conventions, sending waves of tourists to the Showroom. But the selling didn’t end there. ANP producers, especially food manufacturers, soon became inter-island manuglibods with the opening of the nautical highway.

With participation in foreign exhibitions becoming more expensive, and the annual trade fair in Manila becoming inadequate to sustain a year-round export production activity, ANP launched its website in 2009. The Export Development Council, the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, the Department of Trade & Industry, and Department of Tourism, all aided the ANP in developing www.bestofnegrosisland.com. The landmark trading tool is designed for both Business-2-Business and Business-2-Customer transactions.

Twenty five years after the 1st Negros Trade Fair, the products of the ANP have dramatically changed. Lives of members of the ANP and their workers have likewise dramatically transformed. But in all these, the purpose of their labor, of their drive for world acceptance, and of their bond as manuglibods, remains focused and treasured. Theirs is rooted to a promise: Never again. Never again will the Negrense lose hope, not by hunger nor calamity, not by corruption nor cruel insurgency, not by loss of livelihood nor lack of skill. For so long as Negrense hands can weave and sew, and mold and pound, for so long as Negrense hearts hold dear the true meaning of that Christmas lantern the world called the Star of Hope, help will be delivered by shining individuals, members of the ANP who have become the new stars of hope.

Source : Silver Tiangge by Association of Negros Producers pages 137-141

The Association of Negros Producers (ANP), a Business Support Organization (BSO), geared towards business development of micro-small and medium enterprises advocating a more diversified Negros Economy through entrepreneurships is looking for a vibrant and dynamic individual to fill the position of Sales Assistant for our Negros Showroom Lacson Branch

 SALES ASSISTANT

• Male/Female, 21 – 27 years old
• College Graduate
• At Least 5’ height
• Good communication skills.
• With pleasing personality
• Experience in retail-related establishment an advantage
• Must be hardworking and assertive
• Driven, motivated and self-starter

To apply, please submit your Letter of Application, Curriculum Vitae w/ 2×2 photo, Transcript of Records, certificates and other pertinent records to:

THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISOR

Association of Negros Producers, Inc,

3rd Floor, Lourdes C. Bldg., 9th Cor. Lacson Sts., Bacolod City

or e-mail: admin@anp-philippines.com

Source : http://www.visayandailystar.com/2012/December/12/businessnews5.htm

The Negros Showroom will hold its “Maayong Paskua” Christmas Bazaar Friday and Saturday at its main office Lacson and at its Citywalk Branch at Robinson’s Place Bacolod, a press release from organizers said.

The Negros Showroom Lacson opens at 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. while Negros Showroom Citywalk, operates from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Customers can avail of as much as 30 to 50 percent discount on products ranging from fashion accessories, garments, house wares, furniture and furnishings, and natural and organic items, the press release said.

For inquiries, interested parties can call 433-3728 or visit the group’s facebook account, Association of Negros Producers, or our website www.anp-philippines.com.*`

Still thinking of gifts for your love ones this holiday season?  Worry no more as Negros Showroom holds its ‘MAAYUNG PASKUA” Christmas Bazaar on December 14 and 15 at its main branch in Lacson fronting PNB and at its branch at Citywalk, Robinson’s Place Bacolod.  Negros Showroom Lacson opens at 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. while Negros Showroom Citywalk, Robinson’s Place Bacolod is from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Enjoy as much as 30% to 50% discount  on our world-class products ranging from fashion accessories, garments, house wares, furniture and furnishings, and natural and organic items.  Plus, get to try our freshly cooked or baked food products — prepared right before your eyes!

So what are  you waiting for?  Prepare your Christmas list and head to the Negros Showroom Christmas Bazaar on December 14 and 15!

For inquiries, call 433-3728 or 434-1000 and look for Ms Cherry , Ms Aubrey or Ms Nelida.

The Association of Negros Producers (ANP), a Business Support Organization (BSO), geared towards business development of micro-small and medium enterprises, and advocating a more diversified Negros economy through entrepreneurship, is looking for talent, commitment to high-quality work and a solid value structure in each person we add to our team.

Accounting Assistant
Western Visayas – Bacolod City

Requirements:

• A graduate of Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Management Accounting or Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology
• Single,not over 25 years old
• With above average analytical skills; with the ability to work  under tight time frames  and handle multiple projects simultaneously
• With high level of initiative, assertiveness and proactive work style and ability to work with challenging personalities
• Entry level or fresh graduates are encouraged to apply but must be willing to be trained
• Sufficient in oral and written communications
• Proficient in Excel, Word and Powerpoint applications
• Can work with minimal supervision

Please submit your application letter with a comprehensive resume and photo to:

THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISOR

3/F, Lourdes C. Bldg., 9th Cor. Lacson Sts., Bacolod City