SUPPORT NEEDED

Barbadians are again being encouraged to support their own by buying local products and services.

Lecturer and Coordinator of the Student Entrepreneurial Empowerment Development (SEED) at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill, Ayanna Young Marshall gave this encouragement as she addressed the audience at the Alexandra School on Monday night.

She was a member of the panel for the first “Straight Talk” event, one of the sessions for the We Gatherin’ 2020 activities in St. Peter. Through this event, attendees heard about the work of the Ministry of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, the Barbados Trust Fund Limited, SEED and the Youth Entrepreneurial Scheme.

“It is one thing to tell the entrepreneurs to take that risk and to provide those products and services but we must take it to the next level and buy them and believe in them and be proud to wear them and showcase them.”

Young Marshall added, “We can leave here committed when we see a Barbadian product, to buy it or service that you can use instead. To use it, that is how we would start to put ourselves further on the map so that we can have more products. That is how the cycle works, we create and while we are doing our work, try to get more businesses established and to get established businesses grown.”

The UWI lecturer noted that “the biggest challenge that entrepreneurs have is finance. Every report, every research, everything says that, so let us assist them by purchasing and support their products and services.”

During Monday’s event, certificates of excellence for their contribution to business development in St. Peter were presented to six business owners. These were namely Tiffany Willoughby, Claire Jordan, Theresa Bovell, Romel Edwards and Sharad Phillips.