SOME 600 jobs have been created under the Small Business Bureau (SBB) over the past two years and in 2017 the semi-autonomous agency plans to expand its services to assist budding entrepreneurs.The SBB has been in operation for the past six years and according to Gillian Edwards-Griffith, the officer in charge of the entity, during an address to members of the media at the Island Style Café and Juice Bar on Brickdam on Thursday, the bureau has made significant strides over the past several years as it undertook its mandate.
Under the SBB a total of 80 clients have accessed loans to a total value of US$1.5M while 211 clients accessed loans via grants totaling US$301,270. As a result , a total of 600 jobs were created via financing made possible by the bureau.
Edwards-Griffith said that the Micro and Small Enterprise Development (MSED) project which supports the body’s goals in assisting small businesses and entrepreneurs , allowed the SBB to deliver significantly . The first phase of the MSED comes to an end in December next year.
Minister of Business , Dominic Gaskin in a brief address , said that the SBB’s objects are aligned with those of the ministry. He assured that he has confidence with the work of the bureau.
Valrie Grant of Managing Director of GeoTechVision Enterprises, heads the Small Business Council, a body which oversees the operations of the SBB.
Grant said that the aim of the SBB is to create competitiveness, growth and attract sustainable investment through its mission. She said that entrepreneurship is recognized as one of the important drivers of job creation and economic growth adding that it enhances productivity.
Entrepreneurship also fosters growth and leads to practical solutions to social and environmental challenges, Grant said. She said currently many of the entrepreneurs can be classified as “necessity entrepreneurs”, individuals who are “pushed” into entrepreneurship because they have no other alternative in terms of work.
She pointed out that there is no entrepreneurship policy or a direct policy to support entrepreneurship. As such the small business council has on its agenda , the formation of a small business policy and reform agenda which she said will ensure a regulatory environment , the ability to facilitate technology exchange and awareness as well as networking opportunities for business persons.
In addition, she said that there is need for a national entrepreneurship strategy. She said the latter leads to the development and prioritizing of actions and strategies which align with the overall policies of the country’s developmental agenda.