“When you see myself and Finance Minister Fayval Williams in the same room, you know something big is going to happen,” said Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce (MIIC) Aubyn Hill, addressing small business owners at a procurement training event Thursday.

Hill’s reference to “something big” was about plans for the two ministries to join forces in removing obstacles and building capacity for small businesses to qualify for more government contracts, a much-coveted development.

The two ministers spoke before a packed audience at the EXIM bank conference room of major players of the business ecosystem who responded to the call of Garnet Reid, president of the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ).

Under the current procurement system, a major conglomerate pays the same as a hairdresser for procurement documents that usually vary between $50,000 and $500,000, even though small businesses typically get contracts between $3 million and $5 million.

The Government announced in 2019 that 20 per cent of public contracts would be earmarked for small businesses, but seven years later not much has happened to make that lofty goal possible.

Finance Minister Williams acknowledged that currently only one per cent of government contracts go to the micro sector of the business community but reassured her listeners that that was going to change.

She and Hill pledged to ensure that the systems become smoother and easier for small business owners to access government contracts by reviewing the process to reduce both costs and complexity of the procurement process.

The SBAJ, in attempting to create a pathway, brought some of its most accomplished members and allies along to show what was possible.

Milverton Reynolds, chairman of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC); Nadia Morris, executive director of the PPC; Dr David Lowe, managing director of the Development Bank of Jamaica; Errol Barnaby, acting CEO of the EXIM Bank; and Sancia Bennett Templer, MIIC Permanent Secretary came out to throw their weight behind the SBAJ’s drive.

Dr Marva Hewitt, a food safety specialist, brought expertise particularly relevant to small agro-processors eyeing public sector supply contracts. Tanya Cameron of Shades of Africa; Karen Tomlinson of KT Training Solutions; Philip Simon of Red Umbrella Printing; Malika Pottinger of the Trade Board Limited; Greg Savage of Reality Card Limited; and Althea McPherson of Thiaah’s Juice and Organic Food collectively represented the breadth of sectors that stand to benefit from greater access to public procurement.

This was deliberate, the SBAJ said, arguing that rather than filling the room with bureaucrats and theorists, the organisation curated a programme that “foregrounds practitioners — people who have built businesses, understand compliance pressures, and know what it takes to compete in formal procurement environments”.

“These are people who have done the work,” said SBAJ President Reid. “When a small business owner walks into that room, we want them to see themselves reflected in the people on stage — not just inspired, but informed.”

Attendees also had access to a free business readiness assessment, enabling them to identify specific gaps in their capacity to pursue government contracts.

“For Jamaica’s small enterprise community, the opportunity to learn from peers who have navigated similar challenges proved more valuable than any policy document,” Reid said.

Industry Minister Aubyn Hill.