Minister of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, Hon. Joey Hew, with ministry staff, met with the executive of the Cayman Islands Small Business Association on a tour of their new premises on Mary Street.
The recent introductory meeting served for the Minister to meet the association executive and equally importantly, learn about the issues association members face. This in turn suggested the need to explore how the ministry can interact and work jointly with the CISBA to promote their welfare and arrive at solutions. Minister Hew also shared his experiences and lessons he learned when he was the former president of the CI Chamber of Commerce.
Minister Hew was accompanied by Ministry Deputy Chief Officers, Ms Leyda Nicholson-Makasare and Ms Tamara Ebanks, Ministry Policy Advisor Ms Thais Ducent.
CISBA attendees were Association President, Ms Dawn McLean-Sawney, Secretary Ms Gina Lawrence, Director of Membership, Ms Antoleen Williams and Assistant Director of Membership, Ms Cheryl Al-Masri. Not present were Vice President Glenda Dilbert-Davis, Treasurer Mr. Omar Chambers and Director of Marketing, Ms Rosa Harris.
Giving him a tour of the new offices, the CISBA President and other 3 executive members highlighted some of the main issues association members face. These include inadequate funding, too much red tape, challenges in securing venues to set up businesses and challenges based on definitions of micro (1-3 employees) and small (4-10 employees) businesses in provision of employee benefits.
Members were also looking for opportunities to grow their businesses, including working with big businesses; more incentives including reduction in fees such as Customs and Trade and Business Licence fees; and encouragement for more women, especially single mothers, and retirees to be able to become small business owners.
The CISBA President also emphasised the need for better concessions when obtaining loan financing so that repayment remains viable instead of setting up the small entrepreneur for failure.
Another idea proposed was CISBA working with the CI Civil Service Association (CICSA) to offer a discount card for government employees to use among SBA member businesses.
After the tour, Minister Hew commented, “This was an excellent opportunity to hear about the challenges that our small business entrepreneurs face in the Cayman Islands.
Government’s involvement, happily, does not end with merely providing annual grants to CISBA but also to follow their progress and jointly find ways to tackle and help find solutions to issues they face.”