Kerr-Jarrett launches BPO incubator
FAIRFIELD, St James – Montego Bay’s Barnett Tech Park will soon be an incubator for small players in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector that have plans for future growth. Work is underway on the Barnett Business Centre, the latest addition to a location that already includes larger players such as Vistaprint and Conduent.
“It’s for the people who want smaller spaces and maybe want to expand later. Then we’ll build a bigger space,” Mark Kerr-Jarrett told the Jamaica Observer as he explained the concept behind his latest venture.
“We want to give them an opportunity to get into the tech park,” he added.
He has a clear roadmap for how he expects the facility to work.
“The idea with the incubators is that in three to five years, or maybe less, when the people in the incubator want to expand, we will then build them a large space — a between 50,000 and 75,000 square feet building for themselves — so they’ll grow into the tech park,” he explained.
The current development is about 80,000 square feet and when divided should provide more than enough space for modestly-sized players.
“We have two floors at 22,000 square feet, we have five floors at 4,400 square feet each and they can take any portion of that and then build out as they grow and get a better foothold in Jamaica,” said Kerr-Jarrett.
“What it does [is] it creates the opportunity for the new player to come in and test the water,” he added.
In addition to fostering smaller players in the BPO sector, the Barnett Business Centre will also include commercial space for rent to supporting enterprises.
“There are going to be a couple new food options, there are doctors, a laboratory, a pharmacy, and all that kind of thing coming in. And given the amount of people in the tech park, those services are now warranted and we have the critical mass to do it,” Kerr-Jarrett told the Observer West.
The idea to open up to non-BPO enterprises, he said, came out of a genuine desire to meet clients’ needs.
“It’s really something we were looking at… and also a number of our existing tenants were asking for services for their employees,” said the businessman.
He said further expansion is on the cards at Barnett Tech Park as it strives to keep up with the local BPO sector, which is projected to grow to about 75,000 employees by 2025, and cement its role as one of the largest employers in the country.
