The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Small Business Development Centre yesterday sealed a $400,000 tie up with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for technical assistance.

Samantha Rolle, the SBDC’s interim executive director, said the MoU’s signing represents a financial injection into the “blue economy accelerator”.

She explained: “That’s $400,000 in the initial or pilot phase, and obviously going through that phase, as we identify where there may be any gaps, or as we would call them, kinks that we need to iron out, we will go ahead and make those adjustments so that we can have a more productive as well as successful programme over the course of the remaining four years.”

Marcia Musgrove, The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) northern Caribbean programme director, said the environmental group will bring its scientific qualities to a project that aims to unlock the marine economy in a sustainable manner.

“So the Nature Conservancy’s role is to provide technical support and advice by way of science,” she added. “So one of the criteria for businesses who receive funding through the blue economy accelerator programme is to ensure that their business model is one that has a positive impact on the marine environment in terms of the way they do business, or even perhaps the type of product or service that the business provides.”

“We all know that the country has been grappling with and will continue to grapple with in the near future, the fallout on our economy, the social impact and environmental impacts from COVID-19, which came on the heels of the most intense decade of hurricanes in our history between 2010 and 2020.

“As we sought to do our conservation work, we recognise that not only do we have impacts on nature and coral reefs, but people around our country.... we are very dependent on these critical ecosystems for our livelihoods, for jobs to sustain our families for food security, and so we thought it a natural fit that conservation of this ecosystem would go hand in hand with supporting businesses around the country who are committed to sustainable use of marine resources.”

Ms Rolle said: “It has been proven that collaboration through trust, partnerships and unity are critical for achieving shared goals confronting the challenges faced by MSMEs (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) and supporting the development of viable businesses, specifically in the blue economy sector.

“Today, the Access Accelerator, the SBDC, is excited to take our strategic partnership with TNC from discussion and design ideation to agreement and action through the execution of a memorandum of understanding with the purpose of supporting the development and investment in MSMEs in the blue economy.”