AT the end of next week, 12 persons will be recipients of G$1M each for financing of their “green” business ideas, made possible through the Small Business Bureau’s (SBB) Green Business Technology Fund.

At a press briefing Thursday, the SBB provided an update on current projects and plans for future projects and assessed the benefit of its activities over the last quarter of the year.
SBB Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lovell Porter, revealed that from the 24 submissions received, 13 individuals have been shortlisted and they now await final confirmation.
“This is very important because we feel it is part of the Green State Development Strategy to actually help our country to start thinking ‘green’ and to support small businesses with their idea of ‘greening’ the economy,” he said.

At the same time, the SBB is working to compile a report on the recently completed In-School Entrepreneurship programme, which the organisation hails as “extremely successful” and will work to restart it by the end of June.
Added to this, the SBB recently wrapped up specialised training for applicants in sustainable mining, forestry and cosmetology while, in a few weeks, soap manufacturing training sessions for clients in Regions Three, Four, Nine and 10 will begin.
Porter said the SBB is working assiduously to achieve its mandate through awareness campaigns and by assessing and improving on past endeavours.
Under the Micro and Small Enterprise Development (MSED) Project, one such improvement is the increase of the collateral guarantee offered to clients seeking loans, from 40 to 70 per cent.

“That (the previous percentage) I felt was unfair when you look at what’s happening in Jamaica and Barbados, so we wrote them asking for a change and so from now we can offer a guarantee up to 70 per cent which is more in line with what’s happening in the rest of the Caribbean,” he said.
In addition, grants once limited to G$300,000 can now be increased up to G$1M through a new system which the CEO says will make it easier for small businesses to be developed in Guyana.

The MSED Project, launched in 2013, is funded under the Guyana-Norway partnership, under the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) and will end in October 2018.
Meanwhile, the $100M revolving fund set to benefit the MSED project has been approved. Porter said that there are still some final touches to be made before it can be utilised.
The fund was introduced by Finance Minister Winston Jordan during his 2018 budget presentation.
In addition, construction has also started on the business incubators at Belvedere Industrial Estate, Region Six and Lethem Industrial Estate, Region Nine. The Belvedere facilities are expected to be completed by May 2018 while the one at Lethem is expected to be ready by May 2019.

The $350M project will cater for large business, young entrepreneurs and small enterprises looking for a start-up location for their businesses.

“It’s not that we’re just constructing buildings, we’re making sure that the incubators fit the needs of the Guyanese people, so one of the things that we’re actively doing now is that we’re trying to engage an international or local consultant, who has the requisite skills to make sure that the incubators accomplish the mandates that we intend for them to accomplish,” Small Business Council Chairperson Valerie Grant said.
On July 12-13, the SBB will host an inaugural conference and award ceremony where outstanding clients and staff members will be acknowledged.