With its sights set on spurring innovation through high quality business development services, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) joins the global celebration of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) on SBDC Day, March 20, 2024 under the theme: “Nurturing Dreams. Growing Futures”.
The Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce, through its agency, the JBDC, has been utilising the American Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) Model in its delivery of business development services since SBDC Jamaica was launched in January 2015.
Speaking on RJR 94 FM’s ‘Hotline’, Deputy CEO of the JBDC, Harold Davis said “The Small Business Development Centre Network is a global network of business development centres started in the US, and extended to Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, as they made a distinct effort to go into other territories. Over 1000 business centres in the US are supported by Federal Government funds, State funds, and the ingenuity of the Centres themselves.”
Continuing, he said, “All of them have a common ethos to provide business development services at a particular standard, with a particular formula that works. Not only does it work in terms of the formula for the business development services, they also have a tracking mechanism to track the investment of the Centre and the growth of the enterprise and its contribution to the national bottom line.”
There are 14 SBDC locations across the island offering business development services to start-ups as well as established business. The Centres are formed through partnerships with tertiary, public, and private institutions, including: University of Technology (UTech), University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), Northern Caribbean University (NCU), College of Agriculture, Science & Education (CASE), Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts (EMCVPA), and Sagicor Bank (SME Business Resource Centre). The JBDC’s 6 Business Centres are also part of the Network.
According to Davis, the agency is currently in discussions with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to join the Network.
Partnerships that fuel Innovation and Growth
“It is important that we establish strategic partnerships for the growth of our economy. When we partner with our universities and financial institutions, it’s deliberate, because that’s how you will fuel innovation, youth entrepreneurship, and sustainable growth,” he added.
Underscoring the significance of MSMEs, Davis pointed out “MSMEs are the engine of growth in any economy. They are responsible at the grassroots level for community prosperity.”
As part of the SBDC Day celebrations, the JBDC is hosting a private event for officers working in the SBDC Jamaica Network. The event includes training on: ‘Business Development Framework’ and ‘Understanding the Business Life Cycle’.
Davis says the training seeks to ensure that there is consistency in the high quality of business development services being offered to MSMEs through SBDCs islandwide.
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