The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) have signed a US$150,000 ($18 million) agreement as part-funding for a US$236,974 project aimed at identifying and implementing the most suitable training method for entrepreneurs.

The programme — dubbed Testing the Viability of an Innovative Business Training Method for Entrepreneurs in Jamaica – is the first of its kind in the country and will target 1,050 entrepreneurs in the development of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. It is expected to last over an 18-month period.

Ultimately, each participant will be tested on the growth of their businesses with a view to determining the best training methodology for MSMEs based on comparative analysis. The part-funding will allow the IDB to begin training sessions with select JBDC team members on February 29 over a two-week period, following the implementation of the project.

The remaining US$87,000 of the budget is to be funded jointly by the Development Bank of Jamaica and the JBDC.

“The outcome of this project is to test an innovative entrepreneurial training programme for micro entrepreneurs using experimental methods. Participants will be divided into three training groups focusing on cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, as well as both cognitive and non-cognitive skills,” said project management and research manager at the JBDC, Lisa Taylor-Stone, during the signing ceremony on Tuesday at the IDB’s New Kingston office.

As part of its mandate, the JBDC has spearheaded a number of initiatives aimed at developing local micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The most recent has been a thrust to make MSMEs business-focused and ready to take advantage of the opportunities to emerge from the Logistics Hub Initiative.

A major initiative is the mobile business clinic, which offers a range of business development and technical support services to MSMEs islandwide. The clinics are held in major town centres and remote communities across Jamaica, tackling and addressing issues of business development and capacity readiness for MSMEs.

Last year, the mobile clinic worked with some 2,000 individuals across the country.

During the ceremony, IDB’s Country Representative Therese Turner-Jones, in hailing small business operators, noted that the determination of local entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams has sparked productivity across the island while improving economic growth.

“Further to that, we are also aware that the majority of new businesses fail within their first year of operation. This demonstrates that among other things, improvement is needed in the way we train our entrepreneurs,” she said.

“As such, the IDB, through its subsidiary the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), is pleased to partner with the JBDC on this project in a bid to generate empirical evidence on alternative, effective micro entrepreneur training programmes,” Turner-Jones continued.

— KARENA BENNETT