UTC's Scale Up Programme empowers Tobago businesses

TOBAGO businesses have been urged to join the growing network of entrepreneurs attached to the Unit Trust Corporation’s Scale Up TT Programme, designed to help them achieve sustainable expansion.

On September 10, UTC in partnership with the Tobago Division of the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce, hosted a business luncheon at Comfort Inn and Suites, Tobago.

In a release, UTC said the organisations discussed fostering entrepreneurship through the "scalerator" of the Scale Up TT Programme.

"ScaleratorTT is a highly impactful business accelerator programme that aims to elevate TT’s entrepreneurial landscape to scale new heights," UTC said.

UTC, in collaboration with the Trade Ministry and a team from renowned professor Daniel Isenberg’s Entrepreneurship Policy Advisors programme, recently launched the fourth and fifth cohorts of the programme.

UTC executive director Nigel Edwards said the programme was designed to offer support and foster growth.

"We understand the unique challenges faced by Tobago business owners," he said. "Scale Up TT goes beyond the numbers on a balance sheet. It empowers you to nurture your passion, make impactful decisions and contribute to the well-being of your employees, customers and community."

UTC said Scale Up TT has generated impressive results, noting that businesses with starting revenues of $460 million have collectively earned an additional $100-150 million, impacting 1,200 employees and contributing to the growth of 34 businesses. Some 173 participants have graduated from the programmes.

Tobago House of Assembly Secretary of Finance, Trade and Economy Petal Ann Roberts described Scale Up TT as transformative, equipping businesses with the strategies and insights needed to drive their growth and achieve seemingly impossible goals.

Waltnel Sosa, representing Entrepreneurship Policy Advisors, said the programme aims to strengthen the local economy by encouraging rapid and visible growth in local companies.

The scalerator model has already been implemented successfully in countries like Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Panama, US and Canada.

One of the programme's graduates, Deon Rojas of Rojas Engineering Ltd, credited ScaleratorTT with driving his business’s growth and success.

UTC said Scale Up TT’s scalerator boasts impressive results from its previous three cohorts such as a double-digit increase in sales and a sustained uptick in new business deals, regional expansion into new territories, improved recruitment, increased staff morale and consistent achievement and exceeding of sales targets.