The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Storm-ravaged Bahamian businesses have yet to access a single cent from a $250,000 concessionary loan facility designed to aid their recovery, and were warned yesterday: “Time is running out.”

Sean Brennen, the Bahamas Entrepreneurial Venture Fund’s administrator, disclosed that while five businesses from the islands hit by Hurricane Joaquin had submitted applications for financing, none had yet been approved.

Describing the special loan facility established by the Venture Fund as “a golden opportunity” that Bahamian entrepreneurs should not squander, Mr Brennen said they now had less than a month in which to submit a completed application.

That is because the Fund has set March 31 as the cut-off point beyond which it will not accept any more applications for hurricane relief-related financing, meaning that around $200,000 could be ‘left on the table’ by the private sector.

Disclosing that the five applications submitted to-date accounted for a collective $50,000, Mr Brennen called on businesses and entrepreneurs to avoid what he described as the typical “last minute rush”.

“We simply want to press Bahamians to take advantage of this golden opportunity afforded to them,” Mr Brennen said during an update on corporate relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin.

“Our concern is that we are faced with a timeline. The Venture Fund has allowed a time period, and that’s going to end on March 31, 2016. That is when the window closes.

“They are our brothers and sisters. We want to help. We are actively begging our brothers and sisters to submit something to us so we can assist.

“We’re the type of people who wait for the last minute. We’re trying to avoid that.”

Mr Brennen said the $250,000 concessionary loan facility was “an initial injection” offered by the Venture Fund to enable businesses on the islands hardest-hit by Joaquin - Long Island, San Salvador, Crooked Island and Acklins - to start the recovery process.

Explaining that the funds were being provided by a “special loan vehicle”, structured so that it was separate and apart from the Venture Fund’s normal activities, Mr Brennen added that business and economic recovery was “a matter of survival” for those Family Island communities.

He conceded that many impacted businesses were likely first looking towards the $578,500 raised by a combination of the Bahamian Rotary Clubs and their telethon partnership with the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) before turning to the Venture Fund.

While monies from that $578,000 are effectively ‘free’ grant funding, companies are likely to be more reluctant to take on extra debt - however minimal - from the Venture Fund’s facility.

“I think Bahamians are looking to see what funds are available to them under the grant funding, and are looking to exhaust those avenues,” Mr Brennen said.

“We encourage Bahamian businesses impacted by the hurricane to take advantage of it [the $250,000 facility], and to explore the opportunity to see how we can come to their assistance.”

Emphasising that it was only targeting businesses affected by Joaquin, Mr Brennen said the Venture Fund would review - and approve - any applications submitted to the $250,000 facility “within a short time period”.

“The biggest challenge has been in terms of record keeping,” he said of the applications received to-date. “We need to ensure their ability to make payments on a loan.

“We need some level of accounting, and to ensure the funds are not co-mingled with their personal funds. We want to make sure they are operating their business in accordance with best practices.”

Mr Brennen added: “We’re here to help. This is an opportunity to rebuild part of the country that has been devastated.

“We don’t want to see any community suffer for longer than it ought to. We want to impress urgency upon them; let’s help them as quickly as we can.”