Greene Wants Rotary To Respond To Entrepreneurship Call

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Trade Minister E.P Chet Greene, is calling on the Rotary Club of Antigua and partner with the government to undertake a special training programme in business and entrepreneurship especially geared to young people who wish to start businesses of their own.

Greene’s call came as he addressed the Rotary Club monthly luncheon at its headquarters on Factory Road on Wednesday. The minister recalled that when he was a youth the Rotary Club ran a programme of training for young people with an interest in business, and it is his wish to see the club revive such a programme.

The trade minister referenced Tuesday’s successful staging of the Prime Minister’s Business Forum, noting that one of the takeaways was the need for capacity building particularly for younger people wishing to enter businesses of their own. He noted that there was even a suggestion for the establishment of an institute that will offer such training for young people.

Greene observed that the Antigua Rotary Club has always attracted businessmen and women as its members, adding that their combined experiences could serve well should the club undertake the initiative.

“I am inviting the Antigua Rotary Club to embrace the government’s entrepreneurial programme by joining us in launching a programme to train our youth in commerce, business and leadership as the government seeks to create an entrepreneur class for Antigua and Barbuda,” he stated.

The minister said it was not immediately clear whether launching such a programme would necessitate establishing an institute or whether there was an existing international programme that could assist, but he is confident that there are people with the skills set in organizations such as the Rotary Club who can conduct the training.

Greene revealed that the government has several objectives as it seeks to encourage entrepreneurship in the country. The programmes aim at reducing the number of people who are employed by the government, transition to a private sector driven growth in the economy, stems the outflow of capital from the economy while raising the level of capital formation in the country.

According to Greene the areas where the government wants to see more investments include energy, manufacturing and the arts.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. The name of the program was JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT. I used to be a part of it. Really good inititative that needs to be resurrected.

  2. I believe we are putting the cart before the horse when we are setting up an Entrepreneurial Fund to lend money to persons to go into business while they do not have the training at all how to run a business. Running a business is a science most of it but also a gamble. Because the economy can change at anytime and people’s demand can change at any time. Some businesses that have been in business for decades are now closing down. One can remember a very popular clothing store Stephen B. Shoul. Many of these owners just went into to business out of their culture, being a people of merchants, and because of the demand of the time and the economy. These days the economy is much more technology driven that we even buy our cars online, blindly trusting someone at the other side of the world to sell us something that we have not physically see or touch and have a test drive in. But as y professor used to tell us. Entrepreneurs are born, the college is only here to teach you how best to do your job. Sometimes we need to have people understand what the word entrepreneur means. “A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.”
    Many people who say the want to do something for themselves only want to be “Self Employed”. Totally different thing. A lawyer starting his own practice is not necessary an entrepreneur. He is self employed. So to is a plumber or an electrician. While a person who start an electrical enterprise and hire electrician and he or she doesn’t even has to be an electrician is an entrepreneur. An person who start a legal firm and hire many lawyers is and entrepreneur. So to is a person that starts an accounting firm and hire several accountants to do the job. A person that hires something to run a supermarket for him or a manager to run a hotel and the necessary staff that person is an entrepreneur. And to run a business you need several skills in doing business and the economy, marketing and finance to name just a few. There are several colleges that offer these studies. I have posted here a link of a very famous college in the Netherlands. One of the forerunners in offering studies specific for Entrepreneurs and not just business/trade.
    https://www.wittenborg.eu/i
    What I think we should do is try to setup programs in conjunction with this University and allow our young aspiring youth to get educated in the field and become qualified. At that time one can easily provide the financial means to such persons in other for them to get a start and become not just a certified Entrepreneur but an practicing one as well. People these are university degrees and we should not take them likely. I would not lend no one money that doesn’t have clue about running a business even if the person’s idea is good. Because the execution may be lacking. So Mr. PM my advise is to just scrap the funds for now and plant a seed which is to educate persons to become qualified and certified Entrepreneurs. And believe me they will then have learned the technique and have the tool to present proper Business Plans that are meaningful. And even a banker will not hesitate to lend them money if the plan is positive even in the WCS. Risk will always be their and one will have to weigh the risk. It always baffles me how some persons can get banks to lend them money for Casinos’ even when the have failed one before. Was the business plan that good? Did they promise to get water from the moon?
    A person can be a good lawyer, but a terrible businessman/woman. A person can be a good accountant but a terrible businessman/woman. A person can be a good electrician but a bad businessman/woman. But a good entrepreneur can hire a good lawyer, a good accountant and a good electrician, because he is a good entrepreneur. Stanford used to hire only the best of the best in the industry in which he did business. That’s what made his companies the best.

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