Interview with GCCI President Kester Hutson
GCCI President Kester Hutson speaks with the Stabroek Business
Stabroek Business: Does this event this early in your presidency provide an indication that the GCCI will now be paying more attention to the promotion of small businesses, going forward?
Kester Hutson: Yes. And this is sound because of the level of onboarding of micro, small and “medium size” businesses into our membership. Currently, we have 825 members, about 73% of which are micro, medium and small entrepreneurs. We recognize that we have to create an incubator for them to ensure that they are familiar with how to do business and to ensure that they stay relevant and develop in the individual sectors.
Stabroek Business: Is the initiative a countrywide or just coastal, and are the various ‘Chapters’ of the Chamber sufficiently well-structured to ‘deliver’ at the level of the various regions?
Kester Hutson: The event targets businesses throughout Guyana. Regarding the involvement of other Chambers, we recognize that they would need help in their business development strategies; so we are reaching out to them and partnering with them to bring them in our fold given that we have the institutional knowledge as to how a Business Support Organization (BSO) should be run. We will be reaching out and collaborating with them to get them formalized, structured and positioned to receive members into their fold. We will invite the various Chambers to be Associate Members of GCCI. We are 134 years old. We are a legislative body by an Act of Parliament. We are Guyana’s only BSO that government agencies can respect.
Stabroek Business:Is there anything in particular that would have caused the Chamber to take this initiative at this particular time?
Kester Hutson: This is the second year of having such an event. It is based
on our research both within our membership and having conversations with micro and small businesses throughout Guyana. We see the need to give them the opportunity to showcase and market themselves and understanding the level of business acumen that is required to grow. It is both an initiation process as well as a mentoring process.
Stabroek Business: What is the Chamber hoping for in terms of outcomes from this event?
Kester Hutson: First, it has to do with information dissemination. We are keen to reach -persons interested in entrepreneurship to give them direct access to information regarding what is required to be an entrepreneur. Once you have a business the next step is to develop the tools needed to present yourself and market your business You need to develop the capacity/resources required to grow your business Here, we are talking about access to finance, insurance and the rules that have to do with business compliance.
Stabroek Business: The Stabroek Business has been reporting on challenges facing small and micro businesses in terms of access to financing for growth. Is this one of the issues that will be addressed as part of the Small Business Week event?
Kester Hutson: This is a priory for the Chamber. We’re focused on the issue of funding for businesses for various reasons: (1) In order for businesses to understand where they are in terms of their financial standing; (2) to cause them to be aware of what they can leverage in order to secure gain access to finance, and (3) to encourage financial institutions to cater for small and medium-sized businesses since those are in the majority in terms of scale, – micro, small and medium. We are asking the financial institutions to look at the matrix to cater for these business categories……… micro, small and medium-sized businesses. We’re also looking to government to help with different means of access to financing for businesses. The conversation with the financial institutions has started. We will be going much more into this conversation. We’re also focusing on getting the message out there to our members.
Stabroek Business: How many vendors have been invited to participate in the product display
Kester Hutson: The Chamber invited thirty (30) of our members, and the other thirty (30) are from non-members throughout the country. Based on all the activities we are having, based on capacity and budget allocation, we thought sixty (60) would be a manageable number to participate in the product display. We had to look at booths, the space in terms of layout etc,
Given that this is the second year that we are hosting National Small Business Week, a determination cannot be made at this time if we should move to a more prominent location. However, at the end of this event, we will do a post-mortem and based on the feedback, we will know how to scale upin terms of venue and whom we target. We are even looking at having it done twice, yearly.
The event is about learning through information-sharing. Participants will be ‘selling’ their businesses. We will have mentors there teaching them how to present themselves and their goods and services. At the end of the Expo, there will be a mentorship session. we are yet to set a date for this session. We have has members who are familiar with events like this one share their experiences with us. There will be a series of sessions to ensure that the individuals are growing and have adequate knowledge of how you present your business and make it marketable.
Stabroek Business: Given the importance of linkages between the state-run business Support Agencies (Small Business Bureau, for example), how helpful do you think it would be to have Chamber reps? on the Boards of state agencies that have to do with providing support for small businesses? Assuming that the Chamber sits on such Boards, what particular role do you see it playing?
Kester Hutson: The Chamber has and will always advocate being part of these institutions in order to add value to our own capabilities as a Business Organization. So we have always promoted and advocated for GCCI to be part of those Boards. We want to participate in developing strategies and policies.
Equally, our relationship with the Small Business Bureau is developing. We would have worked with Small Business Bureau in the past and continue to work with them. In fact, for National Small Business Week, we saw the need for collaboration; they are part of the event. We would have contacted the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commence, of which Small Business Bureau falls under them, and they would have indicated their willingness to participate.
Stabroek Business: What are your own particular objectives/priorities as president of the Chamber?
Kester Hutson: membership retention and development; collaboration within our membership; collaboration with government agencies, and collaboration with international organizations. Additionally, we recognize the need to focus on E-Commerce, to promote digitalization, focus on cyber security, enhance our financial accessibility and do more advocacy for businesses. We will be working with government to roll out infrastructure- not only roads and bridges– but also in order to ensure connectivity in those riverine, hinterland and remote locations. Customers or visitors going to restaurants or supermarkets do not necessarily have to cash but can use a card. Also, looking at the matrix of the supply of electricity – such as solar and hydro outside of the traditional generation of electricity – fuel. I want to promote more banking than cash-based because of the security issue. It would be best to not walk around with large amounts of cash to do transactions. There are also issues relating to the use of the roadways. We recognize the increase in the spate of robberies and the amount of weapons that are accessible and available. We do not think that the Guyana Police Force is doing enough to protect us. We have been encouraging the Force to work with us to safeguard both businesses and citizens.. We have a Memorandum of Agreement with the Guyana Police Force. which I would have initiated under my tenure as Chair for the Security and Governance Committee of GCCI and would have presented it to the Guyana Police Force. They have signed it.
There is a particular perception about the Guyana Police Force, and we want to ensure that they see a need to improve the quality of service they provide.
The use of the roadways – road users adhere to the road rules to avoid carnage and property damage. There is a need for more monitoring and enforcement that is required so that persons can adhere to the rules.
We appreciate the Stabroek Business bringing to light what is happening within the Chamber, and we thank you very much for the coverage of National Small Business Week.
