A number of local manufacturers are in line to receive critical training and other forms of technical assistance from the Trust Loan Fund, as officials seek to get more firms ready for export.
Business Development Manager at the Fund, Kirk Dottin, said coming out of a series of training opportunities for entrepreneurs, the organisation realised the need for greater technical assistance within some organisations.
As a result, he said the Trust Loan Fund was able to form a partnership with the Small Business Association (SBA) and was in the process of cementing a partnership with the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI) so that firms would be able to get further training and help in certain areas, including labelling.
“Initially, this relationship with the BNSI will only be for manufacturers, because it is realised that persons have products and go on the computer and do labels, but in terms of marketing and trying to get outside of the local economy, they [need help],” said Dottin.
He said the Fund, which was established in late October 2018, realised that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and downturn in the economy, the entrepreneurs were in need of assistance in various areas to either stay afloat or pivot.
He said the partnership with the BNSI would allow for assistance in the area of packaging and labelling.
“Once we get people to export readiness we would then transfer them to the BIDC [Barbados Investment and Development Corporation] and the Caribbean Export Development Agency, who would then do the further promotion,” said Dottin.
He was speaking to reporters on Thursday at the Bush Hall Resource Centre, as the Trust Loan Fund culminated a series of training sessions for entrepreneurs and disbursed funds to new and existing clients.
Dottin promised that community training will be a common feature over the coming months as the Trust Loan Fund continues to help firms stay afloat.
Some of the approximate 25 participants in the final session of the training sessions, which began in August this year, either received a top up on their loan from the institutions or funding for the first time.
The $10 million Trust Loan Fund provides loans of up to $5 000 to qualifying applicants, with an opportunity for them to borrow twice that amount upon successful repayment of the initial loan.
In addition to providing the capital, the Trust Loan Fund embarked on a series of management, financial literacy and customer service training exercises this year.
Thursday’s businesses included those from the manufacturing, retail, marketing and service industry.
Administration and Operations Manager at the Trust Fund Ltd. Michael Bowen said the Trust Loan Fund has trained some 1 500 entrepreneurs to date.
“We have seen amazing feedback coming back. Some of them would have rather the training than the funding because they begin to understand that business is about making a living and not just making a profit,” he said.
Noting that the training was ongoing, Bowen insisted that the idea was to continuously help entrepreneurs develop various skills as they receive critical funding to grow their operations.
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