The Tribune

Some 35 business owners attended a three-day training initiative on Grand Bahama to boost the trade capacity of small companies.

ProNet’s Export Marketing and Management module was facilitated by internationally-accredited trainers, Donald Demeritte and Maxine Harris, and provided participants with training in market research, strategy development and what is needed to take their businesses global.

Ian Rolle, the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) president was present for the closing session, where he expressed his thanks to Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) for promoting growth in Grand Bahama’s small and medium-sized (SME) sector.

“This initiative is hosted as a collaborative effort between CEDA and GBPA’s Enterprising Centre,” Mr Rolle said. “While it reflects CEDA’s mandate to build trade capacity and competitiveness amongst SMEs regionally, it also demonstrates GBPA’s commitment to foster growth, stability and sustainability for Freeport’s economy through its small business sector.

Export Marketing and Management is the third module to be offered to small businesses this year. Modules I and II (Business Strategy and Finance Management) were hosted during March and April, respectively.

The class of 35 small business owners, spanned a number of sectors, including manufacturing, retail, agriculture and fisheries, handicraft and construction.

CEDA representative Kevin Jones, an advisor on competitiveness and innovation, also announced CEDA’s call for food safety proposals.

This, he said, would allow CARIFORUM agro-processing firms to receive financial assistance, as part of the regional private sector development programme funded by the European Union’s (EU) 10th European Development Fund. Submission deadline for proposals is July 9, 2014.

The GBPA’s commercial manager Charles Pratt, told business attendees: “Your presence at these workshops indicates the value you place on developing your business, but also by extension, your commitment to support a thriving small business sector that will create stable employment for residents and a healthy economy for everyone.

“We trust that as a result of the training we would have assisted small business owners throughout Grand Bahama to establish the required financial and business operations structures that would allow them to move their businesses forward, and their products throughout the Bahamas, the Caribbean region and beyond.”

Topics covered during the module included market research, export readiness, regulatory compliance and development of an export plan.