Organization

CCI’s seven dedicated Russian Partner Offices oversee a growing network of over 50 Satellite Operations in Russian cities and towns deep in their regions. In Siberia, they may be a thousand miles away, but are well connected by communication lines and air and rail travel, thus insuring constant interaction between the Russian Partner Offices and their Satellite Operations.

Local coordinators who are closely linked with local grassroots entrepreneurs head Satellite Operations. Frequently CCI discovers these coordinators were previous recipients of U.S. Government assistance programs for start-up business centers, business libraries or Internet cafes. Because their U.S. assistance has ended, they are eager to be linked to the outside world again. The coordinators advertise, interview, screen, orient, train and provide English survival skills for PEP candidates, who pay fees to the coordinators for these services. In most cases, PEP candidates also travel to CCI’s Russian Partner Offices for in-depth pre-internship training and final document processing.