Business Development Minister, Senator Lynette Eastmond (at left) and Research Director of the Cave Hill School of Business, Sonia Layne (at right).
Come next month, several local small businesses stand to benefit from a business development seminar which will be held here. It will be jointly hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development and the Cave Hill School of Business.
The seminar is expected to take place a week before the National Small Business Awards 2006 ceremony which comes off at the Frank Collymore Hall on Sunday, April 1.
Speaking today at a press conference to announce the event, Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development, Senator Lynette Eastmond, noted that the forum would be very beneficial to small businesses.
“In terms of individuals who are involved in small business, it will give them an opportunity to seize an educational opportunity, and I hope that through this seminar that they can take away something that would make a practical difference to their businesses.
“Small Business Development in Barbados is not an easy task, there are a number of issues we battle with everyday … and government is engaged in a number of efforts to ensure that small businesses actually can survive in Barbados and be prosperous,” Senator Eastmond noted.
She thanked the Cave Hill School of Business for getting involved in the initiative and said she expected the research that was done there “would be able to help us to put in place more effective programmes”.
Research Director at the Cave Hill School of Business, Sonia Layne, said the topic of the seminar would be “The Three Keys to Small Business Success” and would focus on: strategic visioning for small businesses; key elements for operational success; and personal branding and marketing.
“The seminar is aimed at looking to give small enterprises an opportunity to take time to focus on their businesses and what it takes to make them continue to survive and grow in this competitive environment,” she said.