A delegation from the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC) and Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) was is in Washington attending the 2005 Expo of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which ended Friday, April 29.
The delegation is led by the Deputy Executive Director of the JBDC, Harold Davis. Other members are special adviser on financial products at the JBDC, Robert Wright and senior consultant in the business development unit of JAMPRO, Ashton Lemonius.
In addition to attending the expo, the group took the opportunity to network with conference participants to develop and deepen relationships with American firms interested in pursuing joint-venture partnerships with Jamaican enterprises. They also held discussions with private and public sector purchasers of goods and services and met with several key officials of the Small Business Administration.
The expo was addressed by several high-level officials both from the United States government, as well as the private sector. The keynote speech on Wednesday, April 27 session was given by President, George W. Bush.
Jamaica’s delegation also met with the country’s Ambassador to the United States, Professor Gordon Shirley, and explored with him possible collaboration in generating increased sourcing of Jamaican products by American enterprises, as well as Jamaican businesses operating in the United States.
The delegation also discussed additional outreach initiatives to the Jamaican Diaspora and Ambassador Shirley further outlined specific steps being taken by the Embassy of Jamaica and the Jamaican government to ensure greater levels of investment from the Diaspora in the local economy.
Citing the significance of interacting with small business owners, as well as public sector entities, which facilitate the development of small business, Mr. Davis stressed the importance of small business leaders and organizations, such as the JBDC, engaging in forums that could “serve to foster the adoption of best practices and other approaches that can provide business start-ups with the tools and support which they need to survive”.
“Jamaica is blessed with great talent and creativity and so there is not a deficit of new ideas or good ideas for new businesses. But the real need is for these new start-ups to have access to the capital and resources that will enable them to take their operations to another level and to allow them to expand and become even more efficient and more competitive,” he said.
Mr. Davis also noted that local enterprises, such as Things Jamaican, had the potential in the short term, to see greater levels of profitability as well as a broadening of their productive base. He indicated that the quality of products and the diversity of offerings have steadily improved, thus attracting greater levels of patronage. “With proper technical assistance and support, entities like Things Jamaican, can become even more productive and viable given the services that we provide,” he observed.
The JBDC provides a range of professional consulting for local business owners and entrepreneurs and offers a combination of products, services, publications and expert referrals to help clients obtain current and comprehensive business information on a wide range of topics, such as writing a business plan, starting a business, finding new markets and preparing products for export.
The organization also seeks to assist small businesses with sourcing information on government services, programmes and regulations pertaining to business and seeks to function as a single conduit for information on small business development flowing from an array of sources.
