Young Jamaican entrepreneurs impress US ambassador

Custom made jewelry, handcrafted glow in the art pottery, authentic Jamaican footwear, clothing and accessories were just some of the numerous businesses on display that impressed US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater at an entrepreneurial expo held at Devon House in Kingston on June 24.

The expo, which was organized by Junior Achievement Jamaica, showcased the products of 17 student businesses and was part of a four day entrepreneurial conference arranged for participants of the Junior Achievement Company programme. The conference was held the University of the West Indies, Mona from June 23-26 and involved 80 youth from several schools and community-Based organizations from across the island.

The expo was well attended by diplomats, officials from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and several local and international corporate executives. Bridgewater, who was among the list of high-profile observers, was extremely impressed by the showcase of talent and professionalism of the young entrepreneurs.

“You are doing an excellent job,”Bridgewater commented to the Junior Achievement team, after purchasing a pair of sandals from ‘Kush’.

Kush, a company comprised of young people from Rise Life Management, are manufacturers and marketers of authentic Jamaican male and female footwear.

The other specially invited guests also went booth by booth, looking at the products the students made, sampling some delicious pepper based jam, viewing company advertisements and purchased a few items. Among these individuals were Karen Hilliard, Mission Director of USAID, Bruce Bowen, president and chief executive officer of Scotiabank and Roxanne Linton, country operating officer of RBTT Bank. Bowen and Linton serve as chairpersons of the Junior Achievement Jamaica executive and operational board respectively.

Among the activities of the day was public voting and adjudication of each of the student company booths. Patrons of the event were allowed to cast their ballots vote for their favourite booths, logo and products. All the companies were interviewed by a team of judges, comprising of Caroline Mahfood, executive director of the Grace Kennedy Foundation, Heidi Clarke, programme director of the Sandals Foundation and Rohann Barnett, executive director of the Financial Services Commission. The teams were assessed based on their marketing strategy, innovativeness of their products, their corporate social responsibility, as well as their business acumen.

“Most of the teams I interviewed were great,” Mahfood expressed, “(Most) represented themselves professionally and their products are great.”
Junior Achievement Jamaica is a registered non-government organization. The organization is dedicated to educating students about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programmes.

Source: Jamaica Observer