KINGSTON, Jamaica — President of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jamaica (YEA), Cordell Williams, is encouraging micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to become more actively involved in business associations as Jamaica expands opportunities for local businesses through public procurement, reconstruction projects and other government-led initiatives.

Williams said that while government agencies must continue to address structural barriers that make it difficult for smaller businesses to participate, entrepreneurs also have a responsibility to strengthen their own readiness, and business associations can play a critical role in helping them do so.

Her comments follow the launch of the Jamaica Employers’ Federation (JEF)-YEA Business Development Centre, an initiative designed to provide entrepreneurs with more accessible support in areas including business development, procurement readiness, mentorship, training, financing, market access and professional services.

At the launch, Minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Delano Seiveright, encouraged Jamaican businesses to prepare themselves for opportunities expected to emerge through the country’s reconstruction agenda and the work of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NaRRA.

Williams said that message is timely, particularly as the Government also advances initiatives aimed at increasing the participation of MSMEs in public procurement, including the Public Procurement Commission’s MSME set-aside and integration initiatives.

However, she cautioned that announcing opportunities is only one part of the solution.

“There are real opportunities emerging, but access and readiness have to move together,” Williams said. “It is not enough for an opportunity to exist. An entrepreneur must have the capacity, documentation, financial readiness, technical competence and operational systems required to compete for it and then successfully execute if the contract is awarded.”

She pointed to several recurring barriers that continue to affect smaller businesses, including the time and internal capacity required to complete tender applications and submissions, the cost of obtaining supporting documentation such as financial statements, lengthy procurement processes, restrictive qualification requirements and the difficulty many firms face in financing mobilisation and delivery.

“For a micro or small business, completing a procurement submission can itself be a major undertaking,” Williams said. “You may have one or two people trying to run the business, serve customers, manage finances and at the same time respond to a complex tender. Then there is the cost of some of the documents required and, even after winning a contract, the question becomes whether you have the working capital to execute it.”

Williams said these challenges require continued review by government and procuring entities to ensure that MSME participation is not only encouraged in policy, but achievable in practice.

“We must continue to rethink and redesign elements of the procurement framework so that we maintain transparency, accountability and quality without unintentionally creating barriers that exclude capable smaller businesses,” she said.

At the same time, she stressed that MSMEs cannot wait for every systemic challenge to be solved before taking steps to strengthen themselves.

Williams said one of the most practical actions entrepreneurs can take is to become active members of credible business associations.

“Entrepreneurs often try to do everything alone, but business does not have to be a solitary exercise,” she said. “One entrepreneur may not have every skill, every technical specialist, every connection or every resource needed to take advantage of an opportunity, but within an association there is a much wider pool of capability.”

She referenced the biblical principle that “one can chase a thousand, and two can put ten thousand to flight,” noting that the same principle of collective strength applies in business.

“When entrepreneurs come together, the possibilities change. One business may have the technical expertise, another may have the project-management experience, another may have equipment, another may understand finance or compliance. Together, they may be able to pursue an opportunity that none of them could effectively pursue alone.”

Williams said business associations can help entrepreneurs identify potential partners within their industries, build out stronger project teams, close experience and knowledge gaps and create opportunities for clustering and shared resources.

That becomes particularly important where procurement opportunities require multidisciplinary teams, previous experience, specialised expertise or greater financial and operational capacity.

“Sometimes the answer is not that every small business must immediately become a large business,” she said. “Sometimes the answer is strategic collaboration.”

Williams said another major benefit of business-association membership is advocacy.

She explained that when entrepreneurs share their challenges through their associations, those issues can be identified as sector-wide problems and represented collectively to the institutions with the authority to address them.

“An individual entrepreneur may encounter a problem and simply conclude that the system is difficult,” Williams said. “But when 20, 50 or 100 businesses are reporting the same challenge, that becomes evidence. It allows the association to go to the relevant institution and say, ‘This is not one isolated experience. This is a barrier affecting the sector.’”

She said this strengthens the voice of MSMEs considerably.

“One of the most important functions of an association is representation. Our members may not personally sit at every policy table, but through the association their experiences, concerns and recommendations can be taken to those tables.”

Williams said issues such as the cost of financial statements, procurement timelines, bonding requirements, payment arrangements, mobilisation financing and technical criteria become easier to address when they are documented and raised collectively.

“That is how advocacy becomes practical,” she said. “We are not simply saying that MSMEs need help. We are able to identify where the specific bottlenecks are and work with the institutions responsible for changing them.”

Williams pointed to the work of the Jamaica Small Business Growth Consortium as an example of business associations combining their influence and resources to advance MSME participation.

The consortium includes the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jamaica, the Small Business Association of Jamaica and the MSME Alliance, with strategic leadership and advisory support from businessman Kevin Frith, Strategic Partner and Advisor to the consortium.

Williams said the organisations came together around the shared objective of strengthening the representation, readiness and growth of Jamaica’s MSME sector.

Importantly, the consortium has also signed an agreement with the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) to support greater MSME participation in public procurement.

Williams said the signed agreement represents an important development because it moves the relationship beyond advocacy into structured collaboration.

“The consortium is not only speaking on behalf of MSMEs. We have formalised a working relationship with the PPC so that we can help build practical solutions,” she said.

“YEA, SBAJ and the MSME Alliance are bringing the experiences of the businesses we represent to the table, and with the strategic leadership and support of Kevin Frith, we have been able to strengthen that collective platform.”

She said the agreement provides a basis for continued work around MSME sensitisation, registration, capacity building and procurement readiness.

“This is why being part of an association matters,” Williams said. “The associations are actively working on behalf of MSMEs. We are engaging the institutions, raising the barriers being experienced, helping to design interventions and then helping entrepreneurs prepare themselves to participate.”

Williams said YEA and JEF have already been working with the PPC to translate procurement reform into practical assistance for entrepreneurs.

Last year, YEA, in association with the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, collaborated with the PPC to support the registration of more than 60 entrepreneurs on the public procurement system.

Following the launch of the JEF-YEA Business Development Centre, Williams said that collaboration will continue, with further activities planned to help entrepreneurs navigate the PPC integration process and equip them with practical tools to make participation easier.

“We do not want entrepreneurs to simply hear that there is a registry or a set-aside. We want them to understand what they have to do, complete the process and become genuinely ready to participate,” Williams said.

She said the same collaborative model is being used in other areas of business development.

YEA and JEF have also collaborated with the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) to train more than 40 entrepreneurs in digitalisation, and Williams said the Business Development Centre will continue to work with government agencies and other partners to develop programmes that respond to the practical needs of entrepreneurs.

“These are opportunities that many MSMEs on their own may never hear about or may not know how to access,” she said. “The association becomes a bridge between the entrepreneur and the wider support ecosystem.”

Readiness must go beyond access to finance

Williams said there is also a need to broaden the national conversation about MSME readiness.

While access to finance remains a significant challenge, she noted that capital alone cannot make a business successful.

“Entrepreneurs need money, but they also need competence,” Williams said. “They need sound business models, proper financial management, sales capability, good systems, strong teams, credible records and the ability to execute.”

She said that distinction is important because a business that succeeds in accessing a contract but lacks the systems or resources to deliver can quickly find itself in difficulty.

“We have to prepare MSMEs not just to win opportunities, but to succeed after they win them.”

More room needed for subcontracting

While MSMEs seek to strengthen collaboration, Williams is also calling for greater use of subcontracting as a mechanism for expanding MSME participation.

She said Government and procuring entities should consider how larger and more established firms can be encouraged to incorporate smaller businesses into major projects.

“Not every MSME will immediately qualify to become the prime contractor on a large project, but many may be perfectly capable of delivering a specialised component of that project,” she said.

Williams said structured subcontracting could allow smaller firms to gain experience, strengthen their systems and build the track record required to compete for larger opportunities in the future.

“That creates a pathway,” she said. “A smaller business gets exposure to larger projects, learns from more experienced firms, gains references and builds technical capacity.”

She added that such arrangements can also support knowledge transfer and help Jamaica develop a stronger domestic technical-services sector over time.

“If we are serious about building local capacity, then part of the framework must allow businesses to grow into opportunity rather than requiring them to arrive fully formed before they are allowed to participate.”

Williams said increasing MSME participation will ultimately require action from multiple sides.

Government and procuring entities must continue to simplify and improve the procurement environment where possible. Financial institutions must develop appropriate solutions for mobilisation and working capital. Larger businesses should consider partnerships and subcontracting opportunities. Business associations must continue advocacy, sensitisation and capacity building.

And entrepreneurs themselves must invest in becoming stronger.

“Entrepreneurs have to do their part,” Williams said. “Formalise the business. Improve the records. Understand the numbers. Build the team. Learn the procurement process. Strengthen the systems. Find partners where there are gaps.”

She said joining an association can accelerate much of that process.

“My message to entrepreneurs is simple: do not isolate yourself,” Williams said.

“Join a business association. Participate. Tell us what the challenges are. Attend the training. Build relationships with other entrepreneurs. Find people whose skills complement yours. Use the networks that exist, and allow us to advocate with you and for you.”

Williams said the opportunities emerging through procurement, reconstruction and wider public-sector investment could become an important source of growth for Jamaican MSMEs, but only if local businesses are properly prepared.