September 2015 Issue Business View Caribbean

20 September 2015 - Business View Caribbean ple who have the toolkit with all the equipment and the instruments. We have 120 staff members and it’s a very highly-skilled team. We also have our own incuba- tion system, because while we have a brick-and-mortar incubator, for some of the clean industries like fash- ion, and craft, and gift and food, we go to the location of the producer and help them through the incubation period. We work across private and public sectors to whatever agency or organization that has any service that can improve and enhance the basket of services that we provide to, or is required by, our client group.” While JBDC’s Head Office is in Kingston, Veira also talks about how the company’s reach extends across the entire island. “We have satellite offices in six other locations to establish connectivity to our clients, so we’re out in the field. Once a month we have been go- ing to different parishes with what we call our Mobile- Business Clinic Initiative –where we bring the agen- cies and our JBDC team and we stay in a parish for two to three days, set up a tent, and provide hands-on, on-the-ground, immersion with our clients. We give in- formation and services and also get information that can impact on policy development as we guide our Ministry in amending or developing policies that can help in further developing the sector. This is how we work. We also reach out to associations, chambers of commerce, the manufacturers’ association, and small business associations.” One example of a very successful JBDC program is its Proposal Writing Workshop Series. This work- shop was designed and developed using a practical results-based approach and was offered for the first time in 2013. The workshop equips candidates with the practical know-how of writing winning project pro- posals, and empowers them to develop solid proposal documents, while learning how to strategically identify