The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) is hoping to spur Bahamian entrepreneurship via the launch of its Business Empowerment series.

BAIC is set to launch its annual four-week Business Empowerment for Entrepreneurs lecture series, to be held in conjunction with the College ofthe Bahamas (COB), from April 23-May 14 at the Harry C Moore Library.

Deidre Miller, BAIC’s senior assistant manager of projects development, told Tribune Business: “At BAIC our main purpose is to reach individuals. A part of our mandate is to help create jobs. In so doing we want to empower as many persons as we can to start their own businesses and go out and become employers instead of just employees.”

Mrs Miller added: “We have a number of presenters who will be speaking on various aspects of business, and the pros and cons.

“We have an entrepreneurial as well as a financial roundtable. Under the entrepreneurial roundtable we have persons who would have started businesses, and they would be speaking with regard to their specific businesses and their experience in starting their business.

“During the financial roundtable we have persons from the financial sector who would be advising the participants what they need to do to get themselves better prepared for when they decide to try and start their businesses.

“We have someone coming to speak on licensing and registration, bookkeeping, how to make the social media work in marketing your business, and someone coming to speak on how to put together a business plan,” added Mrs Miller.

Through its business empowerment series, BAIC hopes to sensitiae Bahamians to the various business opportunities available to them and encourage them to exploit those opportunities.