SCORES of young people from the community of Gregory Park in Portmore, St Catherine, were empowered through hands-on training in various entrepreneurial endeavours during the Social Development Commission’s (SDC) second annual Youth Entrepreneurship Skills Symposium (YESS!).

The workshop was held on August 29 at Worldwide Church of God in Christian Gardens. Participants were trained in welding, candle-making, bouquet and gift basket creation, lash-extension techniques, and photography.

Highlighting the importance of the training session, Parish Manager for SDC Portmore, Ishiwawa Hope, explained that it was a stepping stone for youth in the community to access skills in areas that are offered at HEART/NSTA Trust, so they can start their own businesses.

“There’s a lot of things happening that they can empower themselves and create wealth within their communities. So we saw it fit to have this session today to expose them to different skill areas and different partners within the government agency cohort that can link them to the opportunities that are out there,” Hope stated.

The participants were informed about various grants for start-up businesses offered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the various opportunities available through the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information and HEART/NSTA Trust.

Hope said that following the training session, she expects the participants will internalise the information received and begin to view entrepreneurship as more than a hustle, and more of a “successful, profitable business that can help their families and communities”.

She added that the SDC will continue to offer support to ensure that the workshop was impactful.

“We have a database of all the participants today and we will be tracking them over a six-month period where the [community] officer who’s assigned to Gregory Park will be checking in on them,” the parish manager said, adding that some participants will receive starter kits from a few of the skill areas covered during the workshop.

For his part, SDC Executive Director Omar Frith noted that the workshop is part of a national thrust to engage more youth in entrepreneurship, in alignment with the Government’s aim to create a resilient entrepreneurial base across the country.

”The goal is to ensure that every single parish is rolling out various interventions to ensure that young people, marginalised people, disabled, every single Jamaican must have the opportunity to know that entrepreneurship is within their grasp,” he said.

The workshop is an expansion of the SDC’s ‘Portmore Say Yes I’ project which is a youth, economic and sports initiative geared towards engaging young residents across the municipality.

Its aim is to get youths involved in governance and making decisions that impact their communities.

Welding instructor Nick Edmonson (right) shows participant Ajani Phipps a few tricks of the trade at the symposium. During the workshop, participants received training in welding, candle-making, bouquet and gift basket creation, lash-extension techniques, and photography.