In a year when the growth of the small business sector was inhibited by several constraints, not least the scarcity of material resources for the growth of emerging enterprises, limited access to technology and training necessary for the qualitative enhancement of the manufacturing sector, limited access to opportunities to expose products to overseas markets and limitations associated with the ability of some businesses to produce the volumes necessary to generate meaningful returns, the Stabroek Business wishes to pay tribute to those state-run and private sector entities which, in its opinion demonstrated genuine and sustained interest on the small business sector.
We concede that our selections may not exhaust the list of entities that demonstrated an interest in supporting the development of the sector. These, however, due, perhaps, to the aggression and tenacity with which they worked caught our attention and in our opinion are deserving of commendation:
The Small Business Bureau: For its contribution to the growth of small businesses, particularly through its allocation of modest but timely grants to emerging enterprises and its support for small businesses seeking the promotion of their goods and services both at home and abroad;
The Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association: For the staging of its UNCAPPED product display, promotion and marketing event and the opportunity it afforded for local small businesses to benefit from interaction with lending agencies and various associations critical to the growth of the small business sector. The Stabroek Business also recognizes the role that the GMSA has played in aggressively engaging public sector officials at the highest levels in pursuit of the enhancement of opportunities for the growth of the small business sector;
The Guyana Marketing Corporation and The Guyana Shop: With its strictly limited resources the Guyana Marketing Corporation continues to provide a number of critical services to the agricultural and agro processing sector in the areas of technical and logistical support, training and the promotion of local products abroad. Small businesses, particularly, continue to benefit from invaluable ongoing training in areas such as product presentation, packaging and labeling and better positioning themselves to access markets abroad. The Guyana Shop, meanwhile, continues to serve as a valuable first-time outlet for products seeking entry onto the local market by providing valuable display space on its shelves. Moreover, by setting criteria for product access to its shelves The Shop has created standards-setting criteria that help to build a base for the success of products on the bigger commercial stage.
The Stabroek Business also wishes to acknowledge the GMC for its periodic staging of its Farmers’ Market and for the contribution that the event has made to providing options for urban shoppers and additional market opportunities for producers;
Nand Persaud & Company: For its multi-million dollar contribution to the creation of a Soil Plant Testing Laboratory at the Tain Campus of the University of Guyana which will afford local farmers access to a soil and disease testing laboratory that can help increase crop yield in the agricultural sector and alter the fortunes of emerging farming enterprises;
Women In Business: For its noteworthy work in the aggressive promotion of local women-led small
businesses and its contribution to enhancing the ‘presence’ and self-esteem of the respective proprietors through sustained emphasis on self-belief. Women in Business has attracted attention through the staging of its Women in Business Expo, a collaborative effort between the Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts (SNFCA) and the Women’s Association for Sustainable Development. Particularly through the Women In Business Expo, the profiles of a number of small women-led businesses have been significantly raised, the end objective being to afford them the opportunity to grow.
The Women in Business event is a collaborative event between the Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts (SNFCA) and the Women’s Association for Sustainable Development.
Partners of the Americas: For its sustained work with local farmers and agro processors in Guyana in pursuit of the enhancement of the efficiency and effectiveness on those sectors and the consequential impact that its work has had on enhancing skills and, in effect, realizing a life-changing impact on Guyana’s agriculture and food security programme through its innovative Farmer to Farmer initiative.
