MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Thirty-six young people from communities in north-west Manchester were recently recognised for their achievement in the Central Jamaica Social Development Initiative (CJSDI).

Speaking at the recent graduation ceremony held at Golf View Hotel in Mandeville, CJSDI Director Damion Young said the programme was geared at entrepreneurship training.

“We needed to provide our youth with the technical know-how to start businesses…to expose them to business practices, [thereby] sharpening their analytical skills to make decisions that would ensure their profitability and success,” said Young, who is also a member of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and caretaker for the Manchester North Western constituency.

Young commended CJSDI’s partners, the Heart/NSTA Trust, Rural Agricultural Development Authority, Companies Office of Jamaica, and the Scientific Research Council of Jamaica for their efforts in providing meaningful interventions during the three-month initiative.

Member of Parliament (MP) for St Andrew East Rural Juliet Holness, in delivering the keynote address, lauded Young for the entrepreneurial programme.

“It is not every day that you find individuals so committed and dedicated to understanding and appreciating that you have to invest in our young [people],” said Holness as she declared that the ceremony marks a milestone for young people.

“I noticed that you are all very passionate about the subject areas that you are engaged in and [are] particularly passionate about entrepreneurship,” added Holness.

She reflected on life as an entrepreneur and encouraged people to invest in a business idea.

“Yes, I would have finished university, had a degree, but nine-to-five does not always cut it… Invest, try to be creative,” the MP urged the graduates.

Holness noted that of the 36 young people, “five have received employment, 20 have had their businesses registered with the Companies Office of Jamaica, and 12 have applied to Heart/NSTA Trust for grant-funding programmes”.

She noted that the programme was geared at providing its beneficiaries with a skill set and the know-how to transform fledgling business operations into thriving, prosperous entities that can shortly meet global standards in productivity, and encouraged her audience to explore entrepreneurship via their passion.

“Think: ‘How can I be an entrepreneur? What am I good at? What am I excited about doing? What could I use my time and my life to do that doesn’t feel like it is work?

‘Even if I am up through the night, even if I am working all day, guess what? It is not really work because I love what I am doing and I love the fact that what I am doing as an individual is so wonderful in terms of how it benefits me. I can buy my house, buy my car, sleep comfortably, contribute both to my own self, family and the wider Jamaica, ” said Holness.

“That is what it means, young people, when we decide that we are going to add ourselves to the entrepreneurial class,” added Holness.