Against the backdrop of concerns being expressed by existing and aspiring small business owners that the Small Business Bureau needs to raise its game if it is to effectively serve the interests of the small business sector, President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Ramsay Ali, on Thursday August 3, used the occasion of the GMSA’s Gala Dinner to call on government to afford the business support body a “seat” at the SBB table. This, he said, is in order to allow for the GMSA to use its experience to “add value” to the state-run agency. “We have heard that the Small Business Bureau is being reengineered and being reexamined and we are asking that we should be part of those discussions. We can add value to the Small Business Bureau on the way it is being managed. I am not saying that it is being mismanaged, I am just saying that because, we, – our clientele being a part of this organization, – should be part of the discussion,” Ali told the gathering of mostly business owners and administrators.
Business sector watchers are likely to take notice of the coincidence between Ali’s call for the GMSA to add its expertise to supporting the work of the SBB and criticisms which the state entity has been attracting in the small business community for what existing and aspiring small business owners say is a posture of dilatoriness in expediting applications for state support in securing access to small business funding. A small business owner, whose business has benefitted from financial support from the SBB, told the Stabroek Business earlier this week that the idea of an experienced private sector body “stepping in to help sort out the problems of the Small Business Bureau” was “an excellent idea.” She said that while she had eventually secured support from the SBB for financing the enhancement of her business, “the push around was really provoking.”
The Small Business Bureau, is a semi-autonomous agency established under the Ministry of Business, based on the Small Business Act of 2004. The agency’s office was established in 2010, and became operational in 2013 with funding from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund for the Micro and Small Enterprise Development (MSED Programme). In his address on Thursday evening, the GMSA President also ‘pitched’ an appeal for government’s support for agro processors and other small businesses owners seeking financial help support to attend exhibitions held overseas. “It is expensive to fund these trips, therefore the GMSA is talking to government for a special budget.” Ali said. Contextually, the GMSA President disclosed that his Association is targeting local representation at a forthcoming product Expo in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “This is an opportunity for them to grow their businesses. It is expensive for the agro processor to fund these trips. Therefore, GSMA is talking to government for a special budget,” Ali said.
With regard to the GMSA’s hoped for role in directly supporting the work of the Small Business Bureau, Ali said that the GMSA was seeking, in the first instance, the opportunity to participate in the discourses relating to the “re-engineering” of the state-run entity. “We are asking for a seat at that discussion where we can point out a few important aspects as it relates to small businesses. The Small Business Bureau is a very important government agency as it relates to the development of small businesses in this country. I think if it is tweaked and reengineered a bit, it can do much better for small business in this country,” the GMSA President said. Seeming mindful that he does not appear to be ‘putting down’ the state-run entity, Ali told his audience that while his recommendation was not seeking to imply that the SBB is being “mismanaged”, he was making the recommendation since the GMSA’s clientele are a part of the Small Business Bureau.
