Suncheon National University Jeonnam 6th Industry Center, Ranked 'Nationwide 1st' in Last Year's Business Performance Evaluation

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Suncheon National University announced on the 27th that the Jeonnam Rural Convergence Industry Support Center (hereinafter Jeonnam 6th Center) ranked first nationwide in last year's rural convergence industry performance evaluation.

The Jeonnam 6th Center was evaluated in the top group for all six categories in last year's business performance and was allocated the maximum project fund of 1.252 billion KRW.

Every year, project funds are allocated based on evaluations in six categories: certification evaluation, post-management, professional consultation and on-site coaching, antenna shop, distribution channel sales platform, and others.

The nationwide first-place achievement was mainly due to increased sales through the discovery of antenna shop and regional agricultural product distribution platform projects.

The sales of the antenna shop, a sales venue established to understand consumer demands and trends, increased by more than 200%, from 691 million KRW in 2019 to 1.405 billion KRW last year.

Through the distribution platform project supporting the promotion and sales of regional agricultural products, new sales channels such as home shopping support and online support were developed, resulting in a 487.3% increase in sales from 777 million KRW in 2019 to 3.786 billion KRW last year.

Recently, to support businesses struggling due to decreased visitors caused by COVID-19, the center implemented the nation’s first ‘Home School Experience Box,’ allowing indirect rural experience and providing safe non-face-to-face experiential learning while pioneering new sales channels. Additionally, the ‘Youth Advisory Group’ has served as a bridge connecting local youth and middle-aged groups.

Furthermore, in last year's Rural Convergence Excellent Case Competition, Yeonggwang-gun won the ‘Grand Prize’ in the basic local government category, and Gangjin Beauty Farm received the ‘Excellence Award,’ bringing honor to Jeonnam in both categories and proving the excellence of the center’s affiliated businesses.

Song Kyung-hwan, head of the Jeonnam Rural Convergence Industry Support Center, said, “In difficult times, innovative business development and coexistence with the region beyond agriculture and rural areas have led to high achievements. We will continue to lead the nation by adapting quickly to the rapidly changing environment through continuous interest and discovering new projects so that rural areas can adapt swiftly.”