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VOICES Bi-Monthly Magazine of the University of Technology, Jamaica |
February 2017
28
the Top Anchor Tenant award which went to Dr.
Kavian Cooke, Lecturer, School of Engineering
and proprietor of Naivak Electronics – an
electronic supplies company. The Trailblazer
Award as well as the Top Client of the Year Award
was copped by UTech, Jamaica alumnus Gordon
Swaby, CEO, Edufocal Limited – an online social
learning platform that combines study and play.
Awardees were judged on the criteria of
achieving and surpassing goals and the extent
to which they are making an impact on the wider
Jamaican and global communities.
Miss Dionne Palmer, TIC Incubator Manager
provided the gathering of entrepreneurs,
educators and members of the business
community with an update on the progress
being made by the TIC. Commenting on the
achievements of the graduates of the Incubator,
Miss Palmer reported that over 260 clients have
been nurtured in the residential, virtual and
shared space programmes offered by the TIC
since its establishment. She noted with pride
that graduates and clients have been impactful
on the economy with some having gained
equity and investment in their businesses and
have been recipients of numerous local and
international awards. The Incubator Manager
further reported that the clients of the TIC hire an
average of 2-5 persons, are all registered entities
and generate a combined turnover of $20M on
average per annum. Miss Palmer disclosed that
the Centre is working to strengthen its incubation
programme for greater impact on the economy
and the sustainability of the incubated business
ventures and as such appealed for support
through grant funding, mentorship, sponsorship
and other forms of partnership.
Prof. Rosalea Hamilton, Vice President,
Community Service and Development in her
welcome commended the TIC for its efforts
in successfully carrying out its mission of
nurturing young entrepreneurs at the growth and
development stage of their start-up technology-
based business ventures and asserted that
the awards signify important achievement
milestones. She lauded the TIC for the work that it
has been doing since 2002 in incubating external
start-up businesses as well as business ventures
by students and faculty at UTech, Jamaica.
Prof. Hamilton specially commended TIC
graduate companies Point Global Marketing led
by Javette Nixon who was among eight Jamaican
entrepreneurs who were selected by the US
Embassy in October 2016 to be part of President
Barack Obama’s Young Leaders of the Americas
(YLA) initiative and Tyrone Wilson, CEO, eMedia
Interactive Group who recently partnered with the
University College of the Caribbean (UCC) to offer
a certificate media programme. “These major
milestones affirm UTech, Jamaica’s significant
investment in entrepreneurship education and
signify tangible outcomes of the University’s
commitment to contributing to the capacity
building of a strong MSME sector in Jamaica,”
Prof. Hamilton noted.
Guest speaker, Mr. Loren Edwards, Senior
Assistant General Manager, Retail Banking
Division, National Commercial Bank shared
insights on the imperative of using Information
Technology to transform businesses for success
in a globally competitive environment. He
pointed to the example of Net Entrepreneurs
who profitably use the Internet to manage all
aspects of their businesses, underscoring that
IT is the “backbone of an ever changing world
economy.” Lamenting that Jamaica lags behind
at 83rd position out of 139 countries on the
world ranking of the 2016 Global Information
Technology Report, while countries on top such
as Switzerland, Finland and Singapore have
taken advantage of combining entrepreneurship,
IT and innovation in an effort to develop their
economies, he called on young entrepreneurs to
embrace these imperatives for the sustainability
and success of their business ventures.
Mr. Loren Edwards (2nd left), Senior Assistant General Manager, Retail Banking, NCB and Mr. Dave Wilson (3rd left), Branch Manager, NCB, Matilda’s Corner accept the
award for their company’s “sterling service in support of the entrepreneurial community” being presented by Prof. Rosalea Hamilton (right), Vice President, Community
Service and Development, University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Ja.) at the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC) Client Awards held on Thursday, December 8, 2016.
Sharing in the presentation is Miss Dionne Palmer (right), TIC Incubator Manager.
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