The Tribune

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) partnered with the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce and Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) to host another successful grant writing workshop for small and medium-sized enteprises on Grand Bahama.

Participants from various sectors on the island were given an opportunity to hear about reimbursable funding of up to 30,000 Euros, or $40,671, available to businesses in 15 CARIFORUM countries.

“A major focus of our Business Development team at the Port Authority is to not only attract new business, but also assist business owners who are already making a contribution to the local economy. Today’s workshop is evidence of our continued commitment to helping your business grow,” said GBPA president, Ian Rolle.

He added that the exercise was geared towards assisting companies who have been operating for a minimum of two years.

“Limited financial resources are often mitigating factors when businesses fail. This workshop is geared towards reversing this trend through educating Bahamian firms and business support organisations on available funding, as well as the correct procedures for the application process,” Mr Rolle added.

To date, the Bahamas has recorded a 100 per cent success rate, with a lone applicant receiving a direct assistance grant during the last call for entries.

CEDA’s competitiveness and innovation manager, Chris McNair, is optimistic these numbers will grow.

“What we’d like to see is a lot more applicants from Grand Bahama and the entire Bahamas,” he said. “In our visits to the member states, what we’ve seen is that some countries in the region are very familiar with donor funding and applying for it. Then you have others who are not that familiar.”

Through educational workshops such as this, CEDA hopes to increase awareness of the programme and show firms how to put forward an application that is completed correctly and thereby eligible for consideration.

“Training works. We want to bring it to the Bahamas and see more successful applicants from here,” Mr McNair reiterated.

“This is very important to us because we want to get the money spent. We want to help you access a grant to grow your business so that the impact can be felt on a community level, national and ultimately regional level.”

This year’s proposal call opened on January 17. Applications will be accepted until 4:30pm Barbados Time on March 7, 2014, and can be downloaded from the agency’s website at www.carib-export.com.