Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
Financing a small business start-up should now be easier. A vendor plies his wares in the Bog Walk market. - IAN ALLEN STAFF/GLEANER PHOTOGRAPHER
SMALL BUSINESSES across the island can now access grants to expand their operations through the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
This was announced recently at the Small Business Association of Jamaica's (SBAJ) special general meeting, held at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica's auditorium.
Assistant Project Coordinator, Kirk Brown says the programme is a cost sharing measure that will be made available through private sector entities that offer development services.
A maximum funding of $3.2 million is available to individual companies, but before one can access funding, the individual company must demonstrate that it has 60 per cent of the available funds. The programme will then contribute 40 per cent.
If the applicant only wishes to access $800, 000 of the maximum fund, it must show that it has 25 per cent of the cost and the programme will cover the remaining 75 per cent.
To receive the grant applicants must submit financial statements of their businesses performance.
MANAGING YOUR RESOURCES
"You must be able to demonstrate how you are managing your resources, because at the end of the day most grant programmes don't want to just give you money. They would like to see that you are able to sustain your debt in the long term," Brown says.
He says the objective is also to ensure that businesses do not depend solely on the PSDP.
"You may receive a grant from the programme once you are eligible to improve yourself in such a way that the next time around you may not be necessarily be needing a larger grant, but you may be living on what you already started," he says.
Earlier, guest speaker at the forum, Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies said issues such as access to foreign exchange were no longer major problems for the small and micro business sector.
"We now have adequate foreign exchange reserves so access to foreign exchange is not a problem. We have changed things in such a way that foreign exchange is not a problem," he told the audience.
PRIVATE SECTOR GRANTING LOANS
He added that there is an increasing interest from the private sector in granting loans to small businesses and there should be discussions with these institutions in the context of building a market for local products.
"It (discussions) must be in the context that those who are seeking to purchase the goods and services have options. It must be in the context of us recognising that this will be the case for the future."
The sector received $1.008 billion in loans last year.
Brown says the grant is meant to raise the level of competitiveness of small businesses.
"You may look at expansion of your operations, you may certainly look at training of staff. Certainly , you can look at quality issues. You can certainly look at regulatory things as it relates to quality and things of that nature. Only thinking what PSDP is trying to do is to really raise the level of competitiveness," he explained.
The PSDP is funded by the European Union to the tune of 28.7 million Euros ($2.07 billion). Some 228 companies have already applied for funding.
