Reviving the village mill and creating jobs: Chistol family’s story from Cărpineni
The Chistol couple from the village of Cărpineni in Hincesti district established a business based around the local mill. Instead of receiving money, they opted to accept bags of grain as payment. They applied for funding projects, which enabled them to invest in modern equipment for the mill. Additionally, with the reopening of the mill, they created new job opportunities in the community.
Ion Chistol has owned the mill in the village for over three years. Before that, it had been neglected and was in a deplorable state. One day, an idea struck him.
"I started accumulating wheat instead of money and visited other mills that were operational in the past. We used to produce flour and bran, which we sold at the market to make money. I revived the mill. Now, we grind wheat flour, corn flour, and also produce sunflower oil. We provide services to the community. When you do this work with passion, the bread rises beautifully," says Ion Chistol, entrepreneur.
To meet customer demands, Ion sought funding for new projects. A year ago, he purchased machines for grinding cereals, a process that had previously been done by hand.
"People no longer have to wait in line at the mill for weeks like they did before. It used to be much harder to earn a good income and invest in machinery. It could take decades to achieve that. Now, we produce what we once did by hand and with shovels, but those days are gone. The new equipment has made our work significantly easier," says Ion.
Ion and Veronica Chistol also introduced a product that is in demand by livestock breeders: animal feed pellets.
"With our machinery, we produce food for birds and animals in pellet form. There aren’t really any services like this offered in our village," shares Veronica Chistol, entrepreneur.
Since the mill reopened, four new jobs were created.
"We receive the wheat and store it in these bunkers. We bag the flour. Older residents who can’t do it themselves come here, and we assist them in bagging both bran and flour," explains Andrei Colța, a miller.
The village of Cărpineni is home to over 5,500 residents.
