Center for Local Business Development to launch online course
Project Director Patrick Henry
Project Director Patrick Henry

SINCE its establishment, the Center for Local Business Development (CLBD) has received an outpouring of interest from local companies and, to better tailor its services to suit its clients, the Center will soon be rolling out a mobile app and an online course.

The mobile app will cater to the Center’s Supplier Registration Portal which has over 2,900 registered businesses of which some 1,660 are Guyanese-owned.
Meanwhile, the online course to be offered lies in the area of Offshore Oil and Gas and will be best suited to companies outside of Georgetown also interested in building their capacity in this regard.

Sitting down with the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, CLBD’s Project Director, Patrick Henry, told of the progress the Center has made since its 2017 launch.

Regarding the pending online course, he explained that the Center has done a number of Regional outreaches which brought the need to the fore.

“We felt that an online course would allow us to reach more people outside; more businesses; giving people an opportunity to try and understand what’s happening,” he said.
“The Offshore Oil and Gas course will, in the coming months, go online so people can take it anywhere in Guyana at the time of their leisure as long as they have internet or they can use the government’s internet centers.”

The online courses will first be tested for public response before being rolled out on a wider scale or permanent basis.

Apart from the Offshore Oil and Gas course, the Center runs seminars on Procurement for Local Suppliers and Health, Safety, Security and the Environment (HSSE) once monthly.
These courses allow businesses to gain information about the sector and make smart investment decisions.

Since the CLBD was initiated, some 1,600 persons have participated in the courses which amount to over 540 businesses.

While the Procurement for Local Suppliers course began as one course, it was split into two to provide additional information on Expressions of Interest (EOIs) and the tendering process after feedback from ExxonMobil and its prime contractors.
“Exxon and their prime contractors have kind of changed global procurement practices to make it so that Guyanese businesses can better understand what’s happening; how things are done; what’s expected of them,” Henry explained.

“I think there’s been an incredible amount of change in the Guyanese businesses…you see that companies are winning work. It’s not that they are being given work, they’re actually able to compete, price it properly, win work and they’re able to form partnerships with international companies or amongst themselves to get complex jobs done.”
Added to this, the Center has reached out to companies to provide training in ISO 9001: Quality Management Systems as a “base” certification to help Guyanese companies better secure opportunities.

“We thought if people were compliant to that standard that they would be able to win work and stand a better chance,” Patrick said.

Within the first three years of its establishment the Center aimed to train 10 firms but a total of 12 firms were a part of the ISO training programme within the first two years.
The Center also trains in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 1800: 2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management Certification.

Regarding the mobile app, Henry explained that since the success of the Center’s Supplier Registration Portal, internal research conducted showed that the majority of businesses in the portal utilise their phones for the service.

“[A mobile app would] allow people to better navigate the portal from their phones. It makes it easier for businesses to get notifications and get linkages and look at the portal,” the Project Director said.

The supplier registration portal was built by local IT Company, BrainStreet in collaboration with V75.

The companies are also expected to work on the new app for launching within a few months.

Meanwhile, Henry said that over 1,200 of the businesses registered to the portal are international businesses.
This enables the Center to encourage small local businesses into joint partnerships for mutual benefit.

Of the total number registered, the largest categories are in areas where there was an existing demand for a service while the number of businesses offering specific services to oil and gas are increasing.

Even with ‘first oil’ for Liza Phase 1 expected in 2020, Henry said that the demand for upstream services will remain steady as Liza Phase 2 is expected to start up by mid-2022.
However, he predicts that long term operations in maintenance in the sector and businesses within the services and goods sector needed for long term will increase.
“The Center is here for businesses to use. I think the more time a business spends with the center the better are its chances of understanding what’s happening; making connections; getting training; winning work,” Henry said.

“We’re here for them to use and I think that the better they’re acquainted with what’s happening and how it’s changing…the better their chances of success.”

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