IN a timely celebration of National Women's Month and to prepare sari-sari store owners for a highly digitized new normal, Coca-Cola Philippines and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) opened the iSTAR Center for Excellence in Manila recently. Sari-sari stores serve as the backbone of the Philippine economy, and the training facility is set to further strengthen the business management skills of store owners by making learning tools more accessible to a wider audience.

The iSTAR program builds on the success of the Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources (STAR) Program, the company's long-standing project that aims to train women microentrepreneurs and give them access to financial resources to empower them to grow their businesses. STAR modules are now available online through iSTAR, making it more gender-inclusive and available to anyone enrolled in the program. In 2021 alone, iSTAR was able to reach 9,123 beneficiaries.