The government on Wednesday opened a branch office of the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) at the Edmund Moxey Youth and Community Center for residents of Over-the-Hill. The purpose of the branch is to promote economic development and expansion for more Bahamians; to develop more Bahamian small businesses and entrepreneurs; and to develop the youth in the Over-the-Hill community. Additionally, the initiative will provide access to grants up to $2,500 for those who qualify. Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said that the initiative has so far received $700,000 in donations from various individuals and organizations. “…Albany generously donated a prior gift of $300,000 for the redevelopment,” he said during his address at the launch of the SBDC office branch, referring to a previous donation by the developers of the luxury community. “Earlier today, Albany gave a second gift of $300,000. “On behalf of the Government of The Bahamas, I thank Albany for its generosity and corporate citizenship. “I also wish to thank businessman Mark Holowesko for his donation this morning of $100,000 to SBDC for small businesses Over-the-Hill. “These funds will be earmarked for small business grants. “Mark also donated an additional $100,000 for Over-the-Hill Foundation for broader work in the area.” Minnis added that the new branch will provide enhanced, hands-on training with access to computers and basic computer training through collaboration with existing programs. Dr. Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean said her husband has a conch salad business located in the Over-the-Hill community and they hope to take advantage of the initiative. “…It has been set up almost a year now and so we’re really interested in developing the business more,” Campbell-Dean said. “…We really want to try and expand it so that [people] within the community feel a part of [the business].” She added that a major issue is the stigma of the community being an unsafe area for operating a business. Asked how she would use the funds if granted, Campbell-Dean said the funds aren’t her primary focus, rather, she most looks forward to accessing other resources available. “I would like to access funds with the Small Business Development Centre, that’s why I was here, to try and get an idea of what the program is,” she said. “So, to say how I would use the funds right now, I couldn’t really say. “But there are so many things other than funds that the center provides in terms of resources, access to information, access to classes, programs, [people who] can help you with your accounting. “So, there are a lot of resources that I hope to access, as well as funds.” Wayne Nottage of Fort Fincastle said he has a food business that is almost ready to get going. “…With this [initiative] they’re bringing up, [it] will be a good help to push me further,” he said. “…This will help us good because it’ll keep people focused by doing something for themselves and leave other people’s things alone. “We hope everything goes great so everybody can smile and we can go on with our goods. “It’s nice, I came out to see what’s going on so I must be excited a bit. “We give God thanks for all things and each and everyone should know what’s going on so they can try and get [themselves] set up, rather than watching other people’s stuff.” Kareem Hanchell has owned two businesses since 2012 and said he wishes to collaborate with SBDC. “I believe we have the same focus and the same vision,” Hanchell said. “We’re both in the business development industry which is to assist entrepreneurs and existing businesses to one, position themselves through advisory services and consultations to determine exactly what their business needs, and to provide them [with] strategic plans and strategic action steps in order to achieve those goals.” He added that his business also specializes in business planning. “If your business cannot see success on paper, it cannot see success in reality,” Hanchell said. Additionally, he said he has worked with the government in the past, surveying businesses in order to document the major challenges faced by small businesses around the archipelago.

An electric car rental start-up has attracted $200,000 in financial backing with help from the Access Accelerator Small Business Development Centre (SBDC). The SBDC, in a release yesterday, said it had assisted Drive Green The Bahamas in obtaining two debt financing offers from local banks in addition to grant and equity funding. The firm joined the SBDC to obtain access to the government grants it provided. With its assistance, Benjamin Davis, chief executive and founder of Drive Green Rentals, was able to go beyond this and obtain three financing sources for his business. The soon-to-be University of The Bahamas graduate said: “It’s definitely a proud moment, and I am very excited. The dreams that I have inside of my head, I will love to see them come to fruition with now having access to the funding. “We can now expand to where we need to be with sorting out charging stations, getting additional cars, an office space and more. That’s the most exciting part of it; being able to turn these dreams into reality.” Mr Davis said he would encourage any entrepreneur to join the SBDC, adding: “Rome was not built in a day. That may sound cliché, but it’s true. You have to have patience and understand that you’re not going to join on Monday and, seven days [later], you have money in your hand. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned from the SBDC is the strength and the value of having a team. You are now able to work with other persons who are like-minded, able to get other opinions and even be exposed to other entrepreneurs through the programme. They are now persons I call family. So, just being able to have that connection and that networking is extremely beneficial.” Phyllice Bethel, SBDC advisor to Drive Green Bahamas, said: “As an advisor, I feel encouraged because it is not an easy process for a client to go through. It’s a process where their ideas are scrutinised; not just by me but by other advisors or anybody who attends Pitch Night. “To see them having to tweak, re-tweak and tweak their ideas some more. Then be rewarded at the end with, first the endorsement of the SBDC and, ultimately, the reward of funding, makes me feel good. I can now use (Drive Green Rentals) as an example to other clients to show that today you may feel like it is a lot of work, but in the end this will be worth it.” The SBDC is the product of a tripartite arrangement between the government, University of The Bahamas (UB) and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employer’s Confederation (BCCEC). Mr Davis began his business plan in his Entrepreneurship 407 class. When the Ministry of Finance made the SBDC a reality, he was well-placed to take advantage of the opportunity. K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, said Drive Green Rentals’ early success was evidence that Bahamians can take control of their own economic destinies. “When you see a gem come along that is interested in self-development and creating opportunities, it makes us all as leaders very proud,” said Mr Turnquest. “It says that all is not lost, A, and B, that we as Bahamians have the opportunity to create our opportunities. To cut a new path and to take more control of our economic circumstances.” He added that he wants to see electric cars used as the prime means of rental transportation in The Bahamas. “This is what it is all about,” said Mr Turnquest. “I want to see him at every airport throughout this country and [electric cars] being the predominant rental vehicles in this country. When we first started the SBDC one of the things I said I wanted to do was to create millionaires, and [Mr Davis] is well on the way.” Davinia Blair, the SBDC’s executive director, said Drive Green Rentals’ success reflected the hard work of her staff. “This achievement is a testament to the hard work invested by both members and clients of the SBDC,” she said. “The best news is that this is just the beginning. We have businesses who have already been approved for equity investments of $130,000 and grant funding of $46,800. “Several other clients are on the path to officially receiving loans. Successes like Benjamin’s further motivates us to continue to do our part in growing, strengthening and enhancing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).” Via: tribune242.com

The Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), in conjunction with the University of The Bahamas (UB) northern campus, hosted its first Pitch Night competition on the island of Grand Bahama. The event allowed six UB students to share their business plans with judges and attendees. Walking away with the grand prize of a $10,000 grant was Founder and CEO of Keeping It Clean Tarentee Laing. Hilary Huyler, founder and CEO of Happy Hour Tours, placed second and received a $5,000 grant. Laing admitted that he was very nervous about Pitch Night, even feeling nauseated at the beginning, but was able to relax and feel at ease as soon as he began talking about the progress and expansion of his healthy food takeaway. Overall, Laing described the experience at Pitch Night as excellent. “For me, this is about four or five years that I’ve been a self-starting entrepreneur and I feel like this is the first time that I see the fruits of my labor,” said Laing. “I feel like [Pitch Night] gives you the right amount of motivation to keep going and pushing. Especially in Freeport right now in this current economic state that we are in, it is not easy at all to be a young entrepreneur so having pitch competitions where you can get funding, that really helps us to keep pushing.” Huyler, who came up with his company’s party bike idea about four years ago, described his experience at Pitch Night as a little nerve-racking, but fun as he enjoys competition and experiences that take him out of his comfort zone and allow him to share his passion for his business. “The experience was great. I love people, I love networking and I love being able to hear other people’s ideas,” said Huyler. “It gets me excited. Our country is so small in terms of population, so for me being from Grand Bahama where there is so much land, so much potential for growth, to see other entrepreneurs from different walks of life and different age groups come together to pursue their dreams, and we feed off of each other, and we learn from each other – it was the perfect experience.” Dr. Ian Strachan, vice president of UB North, said that hosting the first Pitch Night at UB highlighted the vision and intelligence of students and further reinforced his belief that the university and the SBDC will be the driving force to transforming Grand Bahama’s economy. “As a tripartite partner in the Small Business Development Centre, it was a pleasure for us to host the first Pitch Night here at UB North in support of the SBDC,” said Strachan. “The students showed us how intelligent and vision-focused they are, and we are excited to continue developing their skills. “We believe that the university along with the SBDC will be major economic drivers of transforming the Grand Bahama economy and contributing to our country and world at large. We look forward to further working with our students to develop them into entrepreneurs we know they can be.” Also present at the Pitch Night was the director of the Grand Bahama division of the SBDC, Yvette Oconno, who deemed the opportunity to see students show their business ideas and plans as an honor and privilege. “Since the Access Accelerator has launched in Grand Bahama, we continue to be impressed by the mass number of Grand Bahamians that are wanting to venture into entrepreneurship,” said Oconno. “Seeing students of the University of The Bahamas display their talents was an honor and privilege, and we look forward to providing the support they need through training and access to capital to further develop those businesses.” The SBDC is the product of a tripartite arrangement between the government, through the Ministry of Finance, the University of The Bahamas (UB) and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC). The center will work to guide the development, funding, growth and evolution of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in The Bahamas.