Government to Launch Business Leads Network to Support Small Businesses by Year-End

Government is committed to providing support to the small businesses through the launch of a new Business Leads Network which will be in place by year-end.

This assurance comes from Minister of Energy and Business Development Senator Lisa Cummins who was speaking at the launch of the Small Business Association (SBA) Week last Friday at Flow’s Windsor Lodge offices.

The minister was the featured speaker at the event which officially launched the SBA’s week of activities which run from September to September 2024.

She explained that the network is intended to connect members of the business community who have already started business to new opportunities that may open.

“We intend to set up a Business Leads Network for all things that the Government is doing to be able to connect you with the opportunities that are being created in the business community for sectoral diversification.

“We talk about opening up the opportunities for servicing the cruise industry, not just people coming and going on tours, but what other opportunities are there to be able to connect small business to the cruise sector, small business to the tourism sector….”

Cummins stated that Government is committed to ensuring that Barbadian businesses can be connected to external markets.

“With those external markets we want to make sure that as we develop trade policies, identify the markets for business, for Barbadian products and services. We want to be in a position that we say, okay, if we have created business leads, opportunities, and a portal where you are able to figure out, I want to expand my business, and here is an opportunity that the government can create because I want to sell or create an opportunity where the government can buy services from me, but we’re not trying to keep you small.”

The Senator said that Government pledges to have the portal up and running by year-end and urged corporate Barbados and those with the expertise to get on board.

“We commit to ensuring that the small business portal, we hope to have it up and running by the end of this year. And I know that those persons who will be chairing and leading that process, in particular, those who are connected to entities like Caribbean Export and so on, who understand the relationship between national business development and export orientation, will be best placed to anchor this kind of work. It is not something that the government on its own should be doing.

Cummins added: “We want to be able to see jobs created in a small business community. We want to see more foreign exchange generated in the small business community. We want to be able to see franchising taking place from the small business community, where you have set up commercial operations across the region. We want to see you internationally. But that comes as a starting point to solid business and trade leads.”

The minister assured both the new Business Leads Network and Business Barbados before 2025.

“Under Business Barbados, you will have the benefit of not just business facilitation, but you will also have the benefit of business intelligence. Once we anchor, along with the University of the West Indies, the research part of it, getting the intelligence in guiding you in the direction of the leads, we then want to be able to track how well you are performing and growing and thriving,” the Business Development Minister explained.

(IMC)