With just a little over a month to go before the Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) unveils its resource centre to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the group has expressed that anticipation is fever-pitched as they embark on this new initiative geared at providing better solutions and services to the underserved SME sector.

Shani Duncan Falconer, senior corporate manager, who will lead the charge for the resource centre noted that the centre, which is expected to be officially launched in November, will provide solid business solutions for prospective clients.

In a sit-down interview with the Jamaica Observer, a tight-lipped, Duncan Falconer, in not wanting to give away too much before the actual opening, said that the centre which will be housed at a new Kingston location, and will be a nice space, marking the culmination of plans and group development strategies over the last two years.

“We’ve been working on this for over two years so it’s not just something that came up. We have realised that there has been a gap within the SME sector; we realise that if we don’t stick with the SMEs then they’re not going to grow,” she told the Business Observer.

She noted that the centre’s primary duty in helping these entities to grow will be focused on getting them from one aspect of their business life cycle to the next.

“It’s not about coming in for a loan; when they come in for a loan we have to make them realise that maybe you’re not in a position to get a loan, maybe if you developed your marketing capabilities some more, did accounting better, they’ll be able to grow. With a plan we have for them, by within a year they should be properly developed with all the right criteria needed to request a loan.

“We want to make them grow from small to medium to large, hence we have to make sure that the advisory services are additional offerings and it’s not just products that we’re offering — it’s a full service solution at JMMB”, she added.

She mentioned that JMMB through the resource centre will have a full suite of services, ranging from deposits, investments, insurance and pension schemes to cater to the respective needs of their clients.

She highlighted that the vision of her company in trying to help this sector comes from a genuine place, as the larger JMMB group was also formed out of similar circumstances that are still faced by SMEs today.

“We have notice that now when we are ready to launch, everybody is talking about SMEs; but we did not get on board because of this rave with SMEs, this was from a genuine place, as JMMB started as an SME.

“Joan Duncan was a small business, she was an entrepreneur, she was trying to get a loan, she was trying to set herself up, and nobody would give her anything. So we’re coming from that place to say we’ve helped the retail side to grow, now we have to help the business side to go where they need to go,” she stated.

Duncan Falconer, who is a trained expert and consultant in business development and entrepreneurship, has also said that helping these entities to expand and get to higher levels is a large part of her passion, as their concerns are relatable .

“I can understand them; I can understand their pains and where they’re at and where they want to be,” she asserted.

She added that through partnerships with other entities such as the Branson Centre, the resource centre will be helping these SMEs to properly develop and secure access to funding of up to $80 million, offering packaged products through an active JMMB working team and utilising a needs discovery analysis strategy that will help in the building process.

“Clients need that resource centre to be able to help push them in the right direction — it can’t just happen one piece at a time — and we have to have it all together, fitting in. The resource centre is a part of that fitting,” she stated.