The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

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The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) is seeking to provide technical as well as financial assistance to small businesses impacted by Hurricane Joaquin via its small business (SME) help desk.

Edison Sumner, the BCCEC’s chief executive, said that while the help desk facility was aimed at providing SMEs with technical assistance primarily, the Chamber was now looking to provide some financial support to small businesses on the worst-affected Family Islands.

”Due to the passage of the hurricane, our attention is being shifted to provide assistance to the small businesses on the affected Family Islands,” Mr Sumner said.

“We have one of our directors, who is in charge of Family Island development, and who is touring the islands and making assessments of the damages, looking at the impact on the business community so we can begin seeing how we can best offer assistance to them - whether on a technical basis or otherwise,” said Mr Sumner.

“The help desk was not intended to be a funding mechanism, but if we are able to get the level of support from the Government that we have discussed and agreed, then we may be able to provide some remedial assistance to those businesses.

“In this instance that is becoming more of a reality than before. What we are doing now is apart from providing technical support. Due to the circumstances we are reaching out to our international associate members and others that we do business with to provide some level of financial support to some of these small businesses, who cannot make it on their own, to help them get back in business,” he added.

“That goes outside the scope of the intention of the small business help facility but, again, because of the circumstances we are going to be doing what we can once the resources become available to us to provide some level of financial assistance to these companies, particularly in the hurricane belt, to cause them to get back up in business and, in doing so, will provide the technical assistance that they need.”

Explaining the level of technical assistance being offered by the help desk, Mr Sumner said: “What we are offering is more technical support, meaning small business people who don’t have the capacity to do certain things for themselves, whether it has to do with running the accounting systems for them, managing the payroll, the financial systems or helping them prepare applications to receive more funding for their business.

“It could also be identifying where the funding opportunities are for them, whether it has to do with helping them prepare applications for procurements of contracts for services that they wish to receive, whether it is to another government agency or some private sector business looking at their service. Many of them don’t have an idea how to write a proper proposal to get those contracts.”