– take advantage of many local content opportunities on offer

IN an effort to prepare Linden entrepreneurs to find their niche in the lucrative oil-and- gas sector, the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) has teamed up with an Atlanta, Georgia, company to host a series of four workshops to teach them how to go about it.

The Atlanta firm at reference is the LIBRA Management Group, which is a provider of professional and technical services in the areas of management, entrepreneurial development and Information Technology to the US Federal Government.

Its presence here is to help with the establishment of local content for the oil-and-gas sector, and to offer some of the services it does in the U.S right in Linden.

The first of the two-day sessions on Tuesday saw about 40 participants being engaged in such topics as health and safety; creating sustainable businesses; and the professional management of businesses.

Facilitator, Ms. Stacey Mollison said that as an entrepreneur living in the Diaspora and working with LIBRA, she was tired of hearing of the many negative rhetoric associated with Linden, and decided that she can do something to change that mindset by engaging the entrepreneurs on what skills are needed to keep their businesses striving, and to make it the best among their competitors.

Taking such a decision, she said, couldn’t happen at a better time with the fast-approaching production of first oil, and the need to have the relevant local content to drive that sector.

In the area of health and safety, participants were taught about the necessity of keeping themselves in shape both physically and mentally and the business going.

Said Mollison, “A lot of times we focus on everyone else, but we are the main persons; we need to be healthy.” They were also schooled in the art of keeping a safe business environment for customers as well as staff.

Relative to keeping a business sustainable, which has been identified as one of the weaknesses of the Linden entrepreneurs, the participants learnt how to effectively manage their businesses financially and competitively, in order to stay ahead of the game.
They were also lectured on professional management, so as to offer the best customer service, and by so doing keep the customers coming.

Mollison said she is confident the workshop will have a positive impact on the entrepreneurs, and would like to encourage other established businessmen in the Diaspora to come back home and engage the local small-scale entrepreneurs on the steps needed to develop as they did.

“I am a born Guyanese; I have been gone since I was 10 years old, and I look at the opportunity with oil and gas. There is need to engage the entrepreneurs; people who have existing businesses, and people who want to,” she said, adding: “As an entrepreneur, our goal is to make sure that every single person that comes in contact with us know what we do and know that we do it better.”

She said that ventures such as these will be continuous, and plans on hosting a women’s entrepreneurial programme in the near future.

The two-day workshop concludes today with a pitch competition, which will see the winner carting off a cash prize.

The workshop is free, and all are invited to join in the conversation at the LEN Conference Room.