The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the role of the project champion and the
project champion’s experience in a business capacity building project in the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia. The project champion mentored and fostered joint enterprises between and
across actors engaged in the production, processing, distribution, retailing and exporting of lamb meat
and cheese derived from sheep milk. The article aims to analyse and compare the experiences and
knowledge from this project with that of knowledge in extant studies on demand chain integration and
inter-firm alliances.