“There
are a lot of local entrepreneurs in every community. We believe that if
Government should start identifying these persons and giving them greater
support, these persons could, in the long run, provide employment for more
people in the very communities where they are operating”
Al Barrett Metal form
mannequins maker from the community of Bowens Road, St Andrew speaking about Entrepreneurship
and the Government of Jamaica
There
are many Jamaican for whom hustling and handouts are their only way of making
ends meets in 2015. So it is no surprise that these Jamaicans, living in the
inner-city ghettoes of Jamaica, are choosing to make a change for 2016.
Residents
of the inner-city community of Bowens Road, St Andrew have decided that making
market bags as reported in the article “Entrepreneurship
is the cure to inner-city employment woes”, published Wednesday, December
23, 2015 by Kimmo Matthews, The Jamaica Observer is a way out.
Located
along Spanish Town road just beside Maxfield Avenue and after St. Andrew Technical
High School, Bowens Road, St Andrew is host to a thriving set of entrepreneurs.
These entrepreneurs, named Dianne Facey and Lillian Henry have started a
business of making market bags as a means to uplift themselves in a community
that's often dependent on political handouts.
They
however have a long term view of their adopted trade; they seek government intervention
to encourage people to become entrepreneurs as a means of alleviating the high
levels of unemployment in Jamaica.
Dianne Facey and
Lillian Henry - Crocus Bag makers sewing a brighter future for 2015
So
says Dianne Facey, who recycles crocus bags and sells them to people going to
market, quote: “We believe that the way to go is for the powers that be to
start identifying and making greater investments in people who identify
themselves as entrepreneurs in the various communities”.
She
uses outdated equipment, mainly an old sewing machine in a trade adopted from her
mother and wishes for an industrial strength sewing machine to make her work go
faster and more accurately, quote: “An industrial sewing machine would help us
greatly.
Their
story reminds me of the entrepreneurial zeal of the St. Thomas Bag maker
Shanaye Monteith who is literally sewing her way to a brighter future by making
school bags as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
St. Thomas native Shanaye Monteith is Sewing School Bags to success in 2016”.
She
has the support of fellow bag maker, Lillian Henry, who points to hidden
talents within the community that investment from Private and Public Sector can
help to unearth, allowing the young to create their own employment.
Al Barrett and Nadine -
Metal form mannequins bring business opportunities to life
Al
Barrett and his wife Nadine, produce metal form mannequins for a living in the
inner-city community of Bowens Road, St Andrew.
He
too believes in the value of entrepreneurship and believes that if taught at an
early age, it could provide a means by which people can uplift themselves out of
the ghetto, quote: “We believe the Government can use this [entrepreneurship]
to address the current unemployment problem”
After
all, not everyone may have the finances to go to university or college to get a
degree.
Worse
many have degrees and are unable to find work, making skill training that more
valuable, to quote Al Barrett: “Government should place a higher value on trade
skills in schools so that people who cannot find jobs can try to create their
own. Dem can do dis an mek a likkle money, if dem nuh have di brains fi do nuh
job inna office”.
He
still faces challenges in sourcing the material he needs to make more metal
form mannequins.
All of the above entrepreneurs could benefit from assistance in doing a business plan to submit to the JBDC (Jamaica Business Development Corporation) to get a loan so that he can be successful in getting the funding he desires as noted in my blog article entitled “20% of Jamaican MSME's Fail to get Bank Loans - Why MSME's need Business Plans, Marketing Plans and Market Research”.
The
fact that he and his fellow residents of the inner-city community of Bowens
Road, St Andrew have chosen the path of entrepreneurship means that their
future will be one free of a dependence on others and marked by increased
independence from external political forces.
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