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Harold Davis, executive director, Jamaica Business Development Centre

THE JAMAICA Business Development Centre (JBDC) is moving to establish business information centres across the island as part of efforts to expand its business development services.

Executive director of the JBDC, Harold Davis, told JIS News that work on setting up of the facilities was scheduled to begin this month.

He stated that the creation of these centres across the island was "one of the solutions to getting information into every nook and cranny of Jamaica," which would allow for the expansion of the business sector and generate income and create wealth.

Some 365,000 Jamaicans are categorised as "own account holders", meaning that they are not employed to government or private sector.

"That represents more than a third of the employable population of Jamaica. It means that a significant portion of our economy's employment right now is due to entrepreneurship."

The facilities to be established will offer a whole suite of services and business information on financial resources that were available, and the various pieces of legislation that governed a particular sector or the starting-up of a business.

The centres, Mr. Davis further pointed out, would offer e-training in specific business areas and self-assessment tools to guide persons. "The centres are going to be IT (information technology) driven because we recognise that IT is one of those tools that will afford us tremendous leaps forward in a short space of time for business development and growth," he added.

In essence, Mr. Davis said, the facilities "will act as business incubators that hold the hands of business start-ups" until they could manage on their own.

With respect to the proposed locations of the centres, the JBDC executive director told JIS News that there were no plans to create new buildings and structures but to "partner with institutions that have a similar mandate and vision for business development."

TARGETING CHAMBER OFFICES

He said that the JBDC was targeting the offices of the Chambers of Commerce in each parish and was in discussion with branches in Westmoreland, Hanover, St. Catherine, Portland and St. Ann.

The agency was also in dialogue with the Jamaica Employers Federation and the National Library Service, to propose similar arrangements.

Mr. Davis explained that the centres would be owned by the partners with the JBDC providing constant technical assistance, IT infrastructure, and all other necessary support, to ensure their sustainment.

He outlined that the centres will also receive support from JBDC's business search providers, who are a group of approximately 30 business professionals that provided services to the micro, small and medium enterprises islandwide.

These include legal officers, lawyers, business consultants, accountants, teachers and other professionals, which the JBDC has brought on board to boost business development.

The JBDC was established in 2000 as the industry arm of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, with a mandate to assist with the training and development of local entrepreneurs and businesses.