CELEBRATING massive growth and a new partnership with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Sonia Noel Foundation of the Creative Arts (SNFCA), on Thursday, launched its fifth edition of the Women in Business Expo, at the Pegasus Hotel.

The two-day event scheduled for 22-23 March, 2020, will be held in collaboration with the Women’s Association for Sustainable Development (WASD), and is scheduled to see the participation of a number of overseas businesses. “We are going beyond Guyana. We have exhibitors from Canada; we have from the Caribbean. For the event in March, we are going to have people from across the region and the diaspora,” shared SNFCA and WASD Chairman, Sonia Noel, as she delivered remarks at the launch. The Expo has come a long way since its inaugural hosting in 2016. It started with just 40 participants growing to 70 participants when the event was last held in March 2019.

Debbie Argyle, from the Mahaica Women’s Group, credits a lot of her group’s development to being a part of the Expo. Come next year March she will be participating in the Expo for the fourth consecutive year. After starting with just candles, the business has branched off to also doing soap production. “The Women in Business [Expo] has really launched our business afar,” Argyle expressed. Argyle is part of two-day mini exhibition being held at the Pegasus Hotel, in promotion of next year’s bigger Expo.

“Since we have been with the Women of Business, we lifted our spirits. We started this business in 2010 and we were not going nice, but since we came here Miss Sonia always give you a drive and passion to develop your business. We used to make these candles in glasses, but now here we have the candles in bottles well labeled and well covered. We have 11 fragrances of highly scented candles. Last year I ventured off into organic soap, from the tree to your skin. We are at the Guyana market and we plan to venture off into other big supermarkets very soon,” Argyle said.

An author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, Noel said the growth of the Expo could not be possible without her support team and the assistance she has garnered from a few corporate entities, including the Pegasus Hotel. Noel praised the GCCI for coming on board with the initiative.

Present at the launch was GCCI President Nicholas Boyer. “The role of women in our society is growing. We are seeing a new Caribbean woman emerge, one who is very educated, dedicated and desirous of moving forward. At GCCI it is our goal and desire to continue fostering and promoting the growth of this new and modern Caribbean woman,” Boyer conveyed.

Boyer foresees such women leading the way in business growth over the next few years. “The next wave of growth is going to come from these women-owned enterprises. They’re going to start out as small and medium size enterprises but flourish into full corporations employing hundreds of people and we as the Chamber of Commerce have to be there to help accelerate that growth. We’re excited for that and we’re excited for the future as we continue to see these ladies do and expand,” Boyer said.

Also present at the launch and giving remarks was Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence. She commended Noel for starting and continuing the initiative. “I said I had to be here. I am here because I would always give support to women activities, but more particularly I want to embrace Dr. Sonia Noel. She really stands out for me as a Guyanese woman, as an icon,” Lawrence said.

“Sonia started this Expo several years ago and I was very happy to have been invited to be a part of that embryonic stage of this exhibition. She has continuously held on to her passion and continue to bring other women along with her. This is the reality show of women in Guyana and what they can do. What excites me more is that 90% of the time their businesses are on local products, exhibiting what we can do with all of the things that God has blessed this country with. This is certainly how we are going to build this country.”
In addition to the expo, Dr Noel will be hosting the annual charity show ‘Style Mission’ and auction, on November 24, at the Pegasus Hotel, which will raise funds for the victims of the recent Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas.