By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
AS small businesses struggle to recover from Hurricane Dorian, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson yesterday opened the Small Business Development Centre Technology workshop at the Grand Lucayan resort to get businesses on the path to recovery.
The seminar is designed to assist businesses that were damaged during the storm gain access to grants and funding to rebuild with the aid of technology.
Davina Blair, executive director of the Small Business Development Centre Access Accelerator, and Scott McKenzie, of Cloud Carib, an expert in cloud computing, were also present and told participants the importance of rebuilding their businesses using data technology.
During his opening remarks, Mr Thompson indicated that there are ongoing efforts to rebuild Grand Bahama’s economy and to assist local existing small businesses which were damaged by the storm.
He said the Office of the Prime Minister in Grand Bahama, in conjunction with the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), has launched the Small Business Technology Innovation Initiative, which is designed specifically to create new opportunities for small businesses to access grant funding (up to $2,500) ear-marked for the introduction and/or upgrade of technology based infrastructure with a concentration on innovation.
“This provides…another opportunity to use more digital tools for data storage which assists businesses in becoming more resilient and provides opportunities to build the technology industry in Grand Bahama and the Bahamas,” he said.
According to Mr Thompson, the hurricane exposed people’s great reliance on cash and the old banking system.
“This provides us to tap into and develop a new industry and a new opportunity for a faster, more convenient way of doing business,” said Mr Thompson, whose portfolio also includes electronic communication and e-commerce.
“We are encouraging businesses to make use of the latest digital tools in their businesses. Technology saves time and money, technology increases efficiency, and technology improves communication,” he added.
The workshop is a part of the government’s overall digital transformation project, the minister said.
Davina Blair, executive director of SBDC, said of the 320-325 businesses that applied for government hurricane grants and loans through SBDC, 300 of those clients have zero financial records.
“Now, I might be exaggerating with a margin of error of maybe 10 percent, but even with that, that is a major problem,” Ms Blair told participants.
“So, it is really exciting to have Cloud Carib here talk about all the data (technology). We need to think about the electronic side of the running a business. This is why we are focusing on this seminar because we realise our clients are disadvantaged if they do not have the data to be able to make decisions,” she said.
Ms Blair stated that businesses need to be able to have data regardless of what happens, in case of a disaster.
“So, when we talk about recovery, we are not talking about getting back to the place where you were because that place might not be the best place. And GB has been in a mode of recovery for at least eight to nine years given the hurricanes over that time, and now it is time for us to fix a business in a way where when the next one comes, rather than it taking two, three months to get back on target, you can get back on target in hopefully two and three days as it relates to data, transactions, and being able to connect with clients,” said the SBDC executive.
She said the SBDC has approved $618,000 in applications for funding. “Of that, $400,000 have been disbursed, most of it is in two types of grants - a $5,000 stand alone grant, and up to $20,000 in a matching grant.”
Ms Blair added that in terms of the approvals, there is about $365,000 for Grand Bahama and Abaco.
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