UTech, Jamaica and Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture & Fisheries sign $11M Contract to Assist Residents in Sugar Belts to Establish Businesses
Signed Contract: Sharing a light moment following the signing of a contract agreement between the University of Technology, Jamaica and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), from left, are Mr Donovan Stanberry, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, the Honourable Karl Samuda, CD,MP, Minister, MICAF, Her Excellency Malgorzata Wasilewska, Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the European Union in Jamaica and Prof. Stephen Vasciannie, CD, President, UTech, Jamaica. Witnessing the signing is Mrs. Keleen Young-Grandison (standing), Project Manager, Sugar Transformation Unit, MICAF. The contract between the two entities was signed at a special ceremony held at the Ministry’s offices in New Kingston on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.
The University of Technology, Jamaica and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 formally signed a contract agreement under which the University through its Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL) is participating in a partnership project to facilitate residents of Sugar Dependent Areas of Jamaica to establish at least 80 feasible business ventures. The ceremony for the official signing of the contract was held at the Ministry’s New Kingston Offices.
The project is part of the final set of activities (year 2) of the Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol 2013 Financing Agreement signed between the European Commission and the Government of Jamaica and is being implemented through the Sugar Transformation Unit (STU) of the Ministry. €15,000 has been allocated by the European Commission for the successful implementation of these activities.
The 7-month contract with UTech, Jamaica is valued at $11M and commenced on April 10, 2017. The project will end on October 10, 2017. The deliverables of the contract being undertaken by a project team in the JDSEEL will result in:-
- Assessment of applicants trained under the training programme
- Determination of prospective sustainable businesses and their start-up costs
- Completion of business plans
- Training of beneficiaries in entrepreneurship, basic accounting and customer service
- Registration of businesses with the Companies Office of Jamaica, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and any other pertinent regulatory institution
- Establishment of at least 80 business ventures
- Monitoring of the start-up of each business.
Since the start of the project in April 2017, the following deliverables have been accomplished:-
- Of the 193 persons who expressed an interest in accessing grant funding to establish businesses, preliminarily 126 applicants were selected as prospects and feasibility assessments were conducted.
- 98 business ventures were deemed to be feasible and business plans are being created as well as the registration of the selected businesses with the Companies Office of Jamaica.
- The business ventures that will be established range from livestock rearing (goats, sheep, chicken, cows and pigs) ‘apiculture’, retail (green grocery, farm supplies and household products), restaurant, entertainment, rental and promotions, to welding.
- Approximately $94m in grant funding will be provided to aid in the establishment of these enterprises/businesses.
President, UTech, Jamaica Prof. Stephen Vasciannie, CD in welcoming the partnership said that the University has been engaged in a number of collaborative projects in areas of national priority with both agencies of Government and the private sector. He noted that this “win-win partnership” being led by consultants in UTech’s Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL) housing the Technology, Innovation Centre (TIC) “is in good hands.”
The President shared that the TIC business incubator since its establishment in 2002 has nurtured over 260 client businesses which have gone on to be very impactful on the economy. He thanked the members of the Project Team: Miss Dionne Palmer, TIC Incubator Manager and Project Lead, Mr. Prince Graham-Haynes, JDSEEL Lecturer and Co-Project Lead, Mr Michael Steele, Head of School, JDSEEL and Mr. Frederick Mills, Lecturer, JDSEEL.
Her Excellency Malgorzata Wasilewska, Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the European Union in Jamaica in her remarks stated that “I am very pleased with the engagement of the University of Technology, Jamaica on this initiative. UTech's rich history of preparing people to meet the challenges of a changing global environment is well known and so we look forward to the tremendous value that the university will add to the initiative and the participants.” Ambassador Wasilewska added that, “in a context of real challenges for the Jamaican sugar sector, we are happy that the action will increase the resilience of the more vulnerable members of the communities who will be impacted by the restructuring of the sugar industry.” She noted that “for the European Union, the reduction of poverty and preservation of people's dignity are important concerns in our worldwide partnerships.”
In endorsing the collaborative project, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Honourable Karl Samuda, pointed to the significance of the partnership to create new opportunities for citizens living in the Sugar Dependent Areas, noting that it is “at the very heart of what will enable the medium, micro and small business sector to grow.”
In thanking UTech, Jamaica for its support in this aspect of the larger programme to elevate the standards across the communities in the Sugar Belt Areas, Minister Samuda noted that “it is the understanding of what constitutes good business practice that I hope will be communicated to the participants under this programme,” adding that the Government fully supports “the synergies that will flow from bringing academia, government and the EU together.”
The Honourable Karl Samuda, CD, MP (4th left), Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), Prof. Stephen Vasciannie (right), CD, President, UTech, Jamaica and Her Excellency Malgorzata Wasilewska (2nd left), Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the European Union in Jamaica pose with members of the Project Team from the University’s Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL). From left are Mr. Prince Graham-Haynes, Lecturer and Co-Project Lead, Mr Michael Steele, Head of School, JDSEEL, Miss Dionne Palmer, TIC Incubator Manager and Project Lead.
End.
Contact:
Michelle Beckford (Mrs.)
Corporate Communications Manager
University of Technology, Jamaica
Telephone: 970-5299
Email: mbeckford@utech.edu.jm