bpTT offers $20k incentive for young entrepreneurs

Kinnesha George-Harry

FIFTEEN budding entrepreneurs have been charged with the responsibility of aiding in the development of Tobago’s private sector. The mandate was given the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, as he delivered remarks at Monday’s Tobago launch of the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP)-bpTT Entrepreneurial Development Training Programme at the Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough, Tobago.

YTEPP has entered into an extended partnership with bpTT to provide specialised one-week training programme to participants between the ages of 20 and 35 years. bpTT has sponsored $387,000 to YTEPP for the administration of the programme throughout the country,

This event saw the intake of the second cohort of this programme. At the end of the training, bpTT will provide an incentive grant of $20,000 for the two best business plan presentations. The winners would have incubator support through YTEPP’s Business Development Officer for a six-month period.

Charles is looking forward to the success of the programme, which he hopes will provide a spark to the private sector.

He said, “In Tobago, at this point in time, six out of every ten persons who are employed are employed by the THA, and the research and the statistics would show that no island – no country – can develop on that basis. It is really a thriving business sector that develops an economy.

“Your role… involves the creation of jobs You may start off as a sole trader but eventually as your business grows, you would have to employ people, and therefore over time you become employers. Therefore, your contribution to the development of this space is not only your ability to feed your family and yourselves but to contribute to the development of the island… and I commend that to you as one of your responsibilities.”

Charles said notwithstanding the challenges the private sector in Tobago has been grappling with, his administration is confident that with perseverance, support and strategic planning, the times of uncertainty can be weathered.

He said, “For those in the cohort, perhaps you have your own notion of entrepreneurship. A definition that you would not find in the dictionary is one that says entrepreneurship is what people do to take their careers in their own hands and lead it in the direction of their own choice. It's about building a life on your own terms… You are seeking to become masters of your own, and that’s fine, but it requires hard work and endurance. You are really a problem solver, no one else is capable or perhaps no one else has the desire to engage in the things that you would be engaging in as you seek to solve problems of our society and our community.”

He gave examples of the success of Walt Disney and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, as he warned the entrepreneurs that "entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted."

Chairman of the Board of Directors at YTEPP Thora Best said participants were very fortunate to be part of such a useful programme.

“You have been specifically singled out for an opportunity that many others would die for, literally, and so the onus is on you to make the best of it. To whom much is given, much is expected,” Best said.