Small BusinessASSOCIATION

You Are ReadingVol. 02 Issue. 9

September, 2014Edition

Building Networks; Creating Wealth

Albert Einstein once said "imagination is more important than knowledge”, and Professor Avinash Persaud underscored this truism as he delivered the keynote address at the recently held Awards Ceremony & Dinner during Small Business Week. Professor Persaud addressed the standing room only event, held at the Barbados Hilton, under the theme of the Week – “Small Business as an Elixir for Economic Recovery.” The professor spoke

SPECIAL

EDITION

IMPORTANT DATES 2014 FEATURE ACTIVITY REACH THE SBAFEATURE ACTIVITY

HEAD OFFICE1 Pelican Industrial Park,Bridgetown, BarbadosPhone: (246) 228-0162Fax: (246) 228-0613Email: theoffice@sba.bbWebsite: www.sba.bb

Members’ Meeting - OCTOBER 28

Nominations for Board of DirectorsDeadline - NOVEMBER 4

IMAGINATION, MAKES IT HAPPENabout the “entrepreneurial state” and challenged the audience, to conceptualise a greater state than what currently obtained.

The audience, which included policy makers, administrators, financiers and small business practitioners, was reminded of the innova-tive work of Jean Roddenberry whose televi-sion series, Star Trek, paved the way for the creation of mobile and touch screen devices some 50 years later. Professor Persaud revealed that it was “50 years after it was imagined, the tablet came to existence and 30 years later the mobile phone”. The imagi-nation of Roddenberry incentivised some-one years later to create these technology tools and proved that if it could be imagined it could be done.

Underlining the role of the entrepreneurial state, the renowned economist posited that the majority of innovations today started through research & development funded by the state. Governments therefore had an entrepreneurial role in encouraging new industries and sectors to emerge. This process should begin with setting the goal of where the country needed to go, helping

Featured Speaker: Professor Avinash Persaud

the citizenry to develop ideas through research and access to finance, and in turn creating nationwide solutions for economic creating nationwide solutions for economic and social growth. He noted that macro funding for many "visionaries", such as the late Steve Jobs was provided primarily as a "helping hand" from the state.

The non-resident senior fellow of the Pierson Institute for International Econom-ics in Washington provided one such exam-ple for the Barbadian context – a mobile app to aid doctors to easily diagnose ailments such as diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in a timely and cost-effective manner. Local entrepreneurs, students and interested persons could be mobilised through a national competition to develop the technology for this product.The presentation from Professor Persaud was hailed by all as not only thought provok-ing but the kind of national dialogue needed at this time to identify solutions for Barba-dos’ economic recovery.

And the Winner Is.....

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Sectoral Winner: Agro Processing

C & G Star Trading

PEOPLE’S ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD Lyle Sealy

C.S.L Enterprises Inc.

PRESIDENT’S AWARDAndrea C. Taylor

THE COMMUNITY AWARDCaribbean Export Development Agency

THE COMMUNITY AWARDBarbados Coalition of Service Industries Inc.

Sectoral Award: CULTURAL INDUSTRIESEast Point Productions

Sectoral Award: GENERAL SERVICESSentry Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Sectoral Award: MANUFACTURINGMiracle Balm

Sectoral Award: TOURISM RELATED SERVICESCaribbean Dreams MAgazine

Sectoral Award: ICTAdvanced Computer Services Inc.

Sectoral Award: WHOLESALE/RETAILBiz Office Systems Solutions Inc.

Sectoral Award: GROUP MEMEBERSHIP AWARD Women Entrepreneurs of Barbados

SBA Outlook Newsletter September 2014

“Barbados, on the evidence before us, has been our most successful economy. It has achieved a level of development and per capita income that compares with Taiwan and Singa-pore, but seems to be severely hit, like the rest of us in the region, by the extreme severity of the global reces-sion.” Sir Dwight Venner.

These words reverberated the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, as keynote speaker, Sir Dwight Venner addressed the VI Annual Leo Leacock Memorial Lecture during Small Business Week 2014. Speaking on the theme Small Business as an Elixir For Economic Recovery, the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank proffered that Barbados’ "catch-up game" was proving to be a bigger feat than expected since the country was lagging to create sustainable growth following the 2008 global crisis. Though not impossible to rebound, Barbados needed more than the monopo-lising of a few persons; the country required a new strategy that would harness the strengths and creativity to create the numbers, which would quicken the wheels of progress currently lacking.

“So that is why I would put my money on the smaller firms", he assured. These small and medium enterprises too have to make their own adjustments to service what small economies have been plagued with since Independence. "We must enter into a phase of sober reflection on our current state of how we got here, and to extract the positive from what has to be seen as a socio-economic reality check,” Sir Dwight concluded.

SMALL BUSINESSES CAN MAKE A BIG IMPACTMuch in conjunction with what the Small Business Association has been promoting over the years, Sir Venner declared that “criti-cal mass is what cuts it. We must begin to mobilise the entrepreneurs of the region from the very early stages, and the existing business organisations such as the SBA must be in the vanguard” the leading Caribbean economist stressed.

Sir Venner further listed the beneficial factors to grouping resources among small enter-prises. “Collective action and networking add considerable value to enterprises. The value proposition comes from the ability to source things in bulk, to jointly manufacture prod-ucts, to engage in scientific research. The value proposition of collective action is somewhat like the supply of electricity. If it is cut off then you really appreciate the service,” he posited.

Sir Dwight noted Barbados’ conglomerates Goddard Enterprises and Sagicor Financial Services as companies that have proven to be pathfinders to economic recovery. However, as Barbados and the region looked to the bigger companies to sustain and stabilise growth, he posited that new initiatives would come from the companies that can innovate and have the incentives and support to do so.

Over the past seven years the Small Business Association has produced a Youth Forum as a part of the array of activities during Small Business Week and with this being the 11th year of the week of activities, the Forum's intriguing atmosphere was no different.

"The Youth Forum is focused on preparing those students involved in the Enterprise In Action Youth (EIA) Programme, to under-stand in a very practical way the world of business," explained Ms. Lynette Holder, CEO of the Small Business Association.

A combination of secondary and primary schools across the island were educated on the opportunities in the entertainment and information technology sectors. Holder emphasised that the SBA had taken note that in recent years, the youth have gravitated towards the creative sector and ICT industries and she wanted to encourage them to pursue

Over the past seven years the Small Business Association has produced a Youth Forum as a part of the array of activities during Small Business Week and with this being the 11th year of the week of activities, the Forum's intriguing atmos-phere was no different.

"The Youth Forum is focused on prepar-ing those students involved in the Enter-prise In Action Youth (EIA) Programme, to understand in a very practical way the world of business," explained Ms. Lynette Holder, CEO of the Small Business Asso-ciation.

A combination of secondary and primary schools across the island were educated on the opportunities in the entertainment and information technology sectors. Holder emphasised that the SBA had taken note that in recent years, the youth have gravi-

YOUTH IN FOCUS

Students participating in the Annual Small business Week Youth Forum with workshops and exhibits from SBA Memebers.

The Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Sir Dwight Venner

the comercialisation of their hobbies in these areas. The students were given a brief workshop on on-line marketing & planning, social media publications as well as mobile app development from members of the SBA. They were also introduced to the science of vocal training and the ins-and-outs of the music industry. Amidst the quiet atmosphere at the Savannah Hotel, the students received a private "concert" from Kirk Brown and Dwayne Antonio Husbands backed by the Energy Band. One could hear the students’ roaring applause from the well-received performances. It is expected that the students would build on this introduction into the world of business as they commence the roll out of the EIA programme for academic year 2014 – 2015.

SBA Outlook Newsletter September 2014

SBW 2014 – YOU REALLY COULDN’T ASK FOR MORE! Finally, the prestigious Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the Hilton Barbados, was held to standing room only as several entrepreneurs and business support organisations were recognised for their business and community development. The President’s award was coped by the SBA’s business operations manager, Ms. Andrea Taylor, while C & G Star Trading was crowned Small Business of the Year. Another highlight was the dynamic presentation by featured speaker Professor Avinash Persaud, internationally acclaimed economist and Barbadian, who captured the audience with his powerful and thought provoking presentation. Special thanks to all sponsors who supported Small Business Week, particularly title sponsor First Citizens Bank, and all members and stake-holders who participated in the events. The postmortem will demonstrate that the value of the small business sector to the economy has been further underscored and should be evident by improvement in the local business environment, in the months to come. Small businesses are truly an ‘elixir’ and must be harnessed to contribute to the recovery efforts of our nation.

and one primary school. Held at the Savan-nah Beach Hotel, the youth forum featured presentations on the cultural industries and ICT sector. Members and stakeholders were on hand to share particular experiences in the sectors on display and to help the students prepared for the Enterprise in Action Youth programme for 2014 – 2015.

Meet, greet and let’s talk, was the purpose of the Promotional Bus Tour, which visited strategic business points around the island such as Speightstown, Six Roads and Oistins. Members and sponsors engaged with several small business owners, educating them on the service offerings of the SBA and industry partners.

A historic day was on September 26th, when the SBA was finally crowned the 20/20 Cricket Champions after three years of accepting defeat from the strategic partners. A resounding win by eight wickets proved that the home team was ready and deter-mined to capture the title. Congratulations to all the players and good sportsmanship by the teams. A day indeed to remember.

The curtain has finally been drawn; the lights, cameras, and action experienced during the week of activities will certainly be remem-bered as yet another successful and excellent Small Business Week. Join us as we review the week’s activities.

Giving praise and thanksgiving was in order for the start of the week, as members, friends and stakeholders fellowshipped at The Sanctuary Empowerment Centre.

This was followed by the VI Annual Leo Leacock Memorial Lecture where regional economist, Sir Dwight Venner, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, deliv-ered the keynote address. Governor Venner called for sustained action through access to finance, legislation, research & development to help those critical sectors during this economic downturn. He posited the view that Caribbean leaders needed to rethink their strategies to ensure an effective comeback to economic recovery.

On September 24th it was ‘youth in focus’ as the association unveiled its Youth Forum to over 150 children from 13 secondary schools