Yangcheon-gu Supports Startups and Overseas Expansion Through Bag Small Business Support Center

Enhancing Small Manufacturers' Competitiveness with Advanced Equipment and Specialized Training
Enrollment for Practical Training Program Starts from the 14th of This Month

Lee Gijae, Mayor of Yangcheon District, is talking with residents at the Bagso Community Support Center. Provided by Yangcheon District.

This year, the eco-friendly outdoor brand ‘Highest’ achieved over 1000% funding on Wadiz and is actively exporting to Japan. ‘Kosami,’ which was selected for KOTRA’s domestic company export business last year and received export mentoring and marketing support, has entered major U.S. online shopping malls such as Amazon and eBay. Both are small-scale enterprises that started at the Yangcheon Bag Small Business Support Center.

Yangcheon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Lee Gi-jae) announced on the 12th that it is enhancing the competitiveness of small-scale businesses and promoting employment and entrepreneurship in the bag industry through the operation of the ‘Yangcheon Bag Small Business Support Center,’ the only domestic hub space for the bag manufacturing industry.

Since its opening in July 2022, the Yangcheon Bag Small Business Support Center has provided education to a total of 65 people, with 12 of them successfully finding jobs or starting businesses. The Sinwol-dong area, where the center is located, is the largest cluster of bag small businesses in Korea, with over 150 bag manufacturing companies and more than 500 workers.

The center is equipped with a total of 54 pieces of equipment, including specialized sewing machines for bag production and state-of-the-art cutting machines, along with a modernized workspace. Here, prospective small business owners, bag designers, and young entrepreneurs receive professional training programs such as ▲bag sewing practice education ▲pattern CAD and CLO-based 3D practice education ▲bag pattern education ▲expert courses in bag sewing practice, as well as support for ▲shared workshops and sample rooms ▲designer-linked product development and crowdfunding ▲one-day classes ▲product photography.

Park Jong-hoon, CEO of the outdoor bag brand ‘Highest,’ which was founded in December last year, said, “From spring 2023, I took bag sewing practice education and expert courses at the Yangcheon Bag Small Business Support Center. Using the skills I gained through the training and the shared workshop and equipment, I was able to launch a backpack, and it greatly helped in producing the second prototype, a compression pouch.”

The district plans to operate the 5th education program starting this September and will recruit students for each course. Bag sewing and pattern CAD practice education will be held from the 14th to the 28th of this month, handmade bag pattern making education from September 23 to 27, and the expert sewing practice course from September 23 to October 4, all by in-person registration. For more details, please contact the Yangcheon Bag Small Business Support Center.

Mayor Lee Gi-jae said, “The Yangcheon Bag Small Business Support Center is revitalizing the bag-related industry by helping small businesses reduce costs and improve production capacity. We will continue to actively support the strengthening of small business competitiveness and their self-sustainability.”