 Good afternoon to all Miss Laura John program officer Gigi I Mr. Dennis Daswani communications Gigi I Green Pinnards program participant mentors of the Gigi I Green Pinnards program Pastor Janwick Joseph Joyfield Ministry Mr. Camille Jabatis Deputy Director of Agricultural Services Mrs. Royce Lynn Howell Senior Business Development Officer at the Small Business Development Center Ministry of Commerce Mr. Daniel Flores of Eco Carib Inc Green Pinnards participants online in the OECS Lapoca with drum assembly here with us specially invited guests Eco creations team ladies and gentlemen Welcome to the end of Program showcase of the Gigi program Green entrepreneurship green premier is pivoted on the full crumb of environmental and social well-being and its positive practices and impacts in relation to organizational best practices originally and globally in the green space practitioners leaders and activists in The sphere of influence must have necessity exercise cautious responsibility in balancing the business financial performance with its environmental and social impact The green enterprise space is governed by the conscience of social acceptability environmental soundness and economic feasibility people planet and profit Organizational wish in terms of reducing organizational waste maximizing energy consumption and reducing green house gas emissions and in the process lower your operational cost enhancing your corporate reputation and Attracting new customers and investors who value sustainability Throughout the green premier's program participants learned all this and more and grass concepts and ideas That I am sure have assisted in transforming the various enterprises. So ladies and gentlemen Welcome to the OECS Greengrove global Institute and the program showcase and it's wonderful to have you and as we Continue the program. It's my pleasure to call on miss Laura John To give her remarks put your hands together My apologies. We started with the prayers Let me call in pastor. Yeah, Rick. Good afternoon to all Protocol observed and I'd like to welcome everyone Holy spirit, we just invite your presence into our midst and I just surrender this Program here to you this afternoon My scripture today is taken from Matthew 15 verse 14 through 30 and It's the parable of the gold bars and that's where this rich man was going on vacation and he called his servants in and To one he gave Five gifts five gold bars to the other one. He gave Two gold bars, which is a gift and to the other one. He gave one and he left When he came back He called them in to see what they had done with the gifts. He had given them The one who had given he had given five said master here Five more The one he had given two Master here. I have two more The one he had given one said master You are hard man. You are shoot man. I feared you so I went to hide that one He wasn't pleased two of them Were blessed all three were blessed with gifts But what did they do with the gifts? I? Want to tell you the recipients today who are entrepreneurs my understanding is that that's an entrepreneurship course That you are not lucky Many people call themselves lucky, but you are not lucky you have been blessed With this program, which is gonna enhance your skills to become entrepreneurs Every good thing Every good gift comes from God and you need to recognize what you have been blessed with and Take the that take the advice of the first two they multiply their gifts They didn't go and take it and hide it You are a blessing onto this nation You have been blessed you have a purpose in this nation God created you for a purpose his purpose his will Today in history you are being recognized But God recognized you even if even before you were born for a day like this and I need you to remember daily What God is going to do in your life what he has done so far? Do not forget Every gift you have Came from God Always put him first Jeremiah 29 11 says his promise To give you prosperity Not to harm you to give you hope and a future and Take Matthew 15 14 to 30 and Jeremiah 29 11 as your watch words The Lord created you to bless you Do not look at what if you look at what's going around you in st. Lucia will be depressed Do not get fearful Get prayerful pray and Trust that God knows what he's doing with you You have been called for a time like this rise up in the Lord and Trust the gifts he have given to you You are a blessing and be a blessing onto someone a man Father we just thank you for today Lord We thank you for bringing these young people here today father to bless them to nurture them Father I surrender each and every one to you Father let not them be fearful, but allow them to be prayerful Let them not be fearful Lord, but them let them rise up in faith Give them faith to walk the journey. You've given them Let them be an example on to others Let them rise and shine Let them not forget Who you've called them to be this day and father let lead each one Into your presence Lead them not into temptation, but deliver them from evil and Let them be rising stars in st. Lucia as they become future leaders of this generation and Increase them spiritually and give them wisdom knowledge and understanding in Jesus mighty name. We pray Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you pastor Joseph we now call on these and Joseph Convin to lead us in the national anthem You Thank you, St. Joseph Convent and So most of you may be aware or may not be aware that St. Joseph Convent is celebrating 170 years so round of applause to St. Joseph Convent 100 and 170 years of education and so ladies and gentlemen to add some Vibrations to the celebrations we call on lapau kabut to serenades if a little drop Lapau kabut ladies and gentlemen serenades us. Let me recognize the Some of our invited guests. We have mr. David Hedley. Give me a round of applause as well We have from ggi Mr. Andrew Lewis and Miss Melody Dixon Give them a round of applause as well. Nice to have you with us Today, so let me call to address us and to give us the program overview Miss Laura John program officer of GGGI your hands together. Listen, gentlemen. Mr. Alexander Adopting the protocol previously established. My name is Laura John I am the program officer for the Eastern Caribbean Green Entrepreneurship Initiative with the Global Green Growth Institute a pleasant. Good afternoon to all of our esteemed guests For many of you who have been On this journey with GGGI for the last three years Specifically as part of the Eastern Caribbean Green Entrepreneurship Initiative much of what I have to say today will be quite repetitive But as the as one of the final events that we are having as we Seek to close the project It would be remiss of me not to provide an overview of the program itself all of what we have accomplished and all of our Greenpreneurs and various stakeholders who have truly participated in making this program a success For many of you who may not know GGGI or the Global Green Growth Institute is an international and intergovernmental Organization based in South Korea Seoul and was established in 2012 at the United Nations conference on sustainable development one of our Goals or our vision is really to create a low carbon resilient strong and inclusive Economy or I should say economies For our various member countries The organization of Eastern Caribbean states the OECS Commission is actually our only regional body that is currently a member of GGGI and It was through this partnership that we actually established our Caribbean office in the Eastern Caribbean where we are Embedded in the OECS Commission Here in st. Lucia So our team most of our team anyways are actually based in st. Lucia specifically under GGGI's Mandate for the Caribbean we established the Eastern Caribbean Green Entrepreneurship Initiative with funding from the Qatar Fund for for development our donor and Of course in partnership with the OECS Commission This great easy greenpreneurs as we call it for short program to support MSMEs in six member countries and Tegan Barbuda Dominica Green Eater st. Lucia st. Vincent and the Grenadines and seeing kids and Nevis Why MSMEs? globally they represent 70% of employers and Contribute and this number is even far greater in developing countries like our small island developing states like st. Lucia It can get as high as being responsible for 90% of employment in our countries And so therefore they play a critical role in our development in our growth in Supporting the sustainable livelihoods of our people Through this project we sought to support these MSMEs, but specifically green MSMEs so What's the difference? Green entrepreneurs or green businesses we define them as purpose driven they seek to they seek to address environmental and Social issues whether it's in their communities their countries their region or globally and They do so through the probe through the products and services that they provide but also through The initiatives that they implement to safeguard their own Operations ensuring that they are in line with various sustainability principles for example They may implement rainwater harvesting systems To ensure water conservation they may employ sustainable waste management solutions recycling materials as much as possible they may utilize renewable energy such as solar to Electrify their facilities So there are a number of ways in which these green businesses are really supporting Sustainable development for our countries so this program was specifically designed to support them and I'm happy to say that in st. Lucia and in the six participating countries. We had many green businesses Apply to our various programs There were three main components of the eastern Caribbean Green entrepreneurship initiative and incubate a program that sought to support early-stage businesses or entrepreneurs with green ideas and looking to really build those ideas out and create a green business and We received over 300 applications for our incubator program. We ran three cycles of this and of the 56 Businesses or teams that participated. They had the opportunity to go through very rigorous 12-week training where They attended weekly webinars going through our social lean canvas methodology they learned Modules on sustainability principles for the eastern Caribbean. They learned modules on impact modeling on financial modeling on learning how to pitch their business and storytell on Learning design systems. So it was a very intense 12-week Program where we the aim was to build their capacity and put them get them through those initial stages of their business development. They were also supported with mentors and coaches and Networking opportunities and all of this culminated in a business plan competition where they had the opportunity to secure seed grants of 10,000 US each We were able to award 30 teams with such grants Representing a total value of 300,000 US that was invested in our early stage green businesses in the region. Of this Saint Lucia actually captured five of these seed grants so representing 50,000 US. In addition we had our accelerator program this focused more on investment readiness so moving from the early stage and supporting businesses that are getting ready to scale and grow and Our offerings were slightly different a little less focus on capacity building although we did have master classes on disaster preparedness and Planning as well as strategic thinking and strategic planning But the highlight was really the opportunity for these businesses to access interest-free loans or repayable grants of Up to 50,000 US so significant funding That was interest-free and really had Minimal restrictions on what that financing could be used for and The reason this was designed in this way is because we recognize that Accessing financing is one of the preeminent challenges that small businesses fail Experience especially in developing country contexts and even more so in small island developing states where there are even less opportunities and I'm happy to share with you that we received 96 applications for these interest-free loans and we're able to grant or award 29 interest-free loans representing just under one million US in Funding so again another investment into the region Of this St. Lucia captured four of the interest-free loans We have not officially announced the recipients as yet But we will be doing so in the coming weeks So we're just very excited that we were able to in total invest 1.2 million US in These six member countries Supporting specifically these green businesses So although Our program is coming to an end We have many successes That speak to the need for more programs like the green pioneers program that really supports our entrepreneurs and Specifically green entrepreneurs because I think in the age of this Climate crisis that I think is the preeminent Crisis of our generation As small island developed Developing states we are at the forefront of experiencing the negative impacts of climate change from increased environmental hazards Increasing intensity of storms. We've already been experiencing this and so It is critical that we support the businesses that are actually on the front lines doing transformational and innovative things to truly Push us in the right direction in terms of moving Addressing this climate change crisis so We're very grateful to the Qatar fund for development for their support through the funding of this program I also have to say a big thank you to our regional facilitator Janice Henderson Based in Antigua who was actually the facilitator for the second and third cycle of our incubator program along with the mentors and coaches who Supported our green pioneers as they went through the various Stages of the incubator program in particular We could not have done it without all of your support. Some of the mentors and coaches are Business professionals public servants from st. Lucia, but as well from all the other participating countries and Lent their support whenever we called on them so we are truly grateful for the time that they volunteered and Gave to our entrepreneurs because it was often to the benefit of the entrepreneurs to get the live real-life experience knowledge expertise of these professionals in addition specifically for the Incubator program the weekly webinars included presentations by guest speakers and I think for many of our greenpreneurs. This was also a highlight Mr. Flourius who's with us here was one such speaker and The feedback we received from the greenpreneurs after every webinar always hailed their appreciation for The guest speakers to really help them better understand all of this theoretical material that they were getting So that they could be better positioned to put that into practice so Again, I think given that we are Coming to a close for the program we Have to acknowledge The contributions of so many who made this program a success including our own GGI staff while Many are familiar with me because I was often the face in Interacting with all the different stakeholders participants. I facilitated the very first cycle of our incubator program There were tireless staff working in the background supporting me Many of you may remember Daria Poyat. She was formerly with GGI up until December She was also very well known by all of our stakeholders We have Dinesh Daswani our communications lead who in the one year since he's come on board has really helped increase the Visibility of our program and of GGI in the region We have Stephanie Matthew who is our monitoring and valuation and learning associate. She has been Hands-on in terms of collecting all of the data that is so critical for us To gather from this program so that we really have quantitative metrics of our impact through this green printers program and can speak very confidently Just as I showed you with the numbers showing Just what our impact looked like through this program We also have our OECS counterparts Quacy Roberts who is the technical specialist with the competitive business unit He's been our point of contact with the OECS and supported by Pearl Joseph Who is the program assistant with the CBU? So if I've left anyone out, I do apologize But these are just some of the people who have actively been working together in the background on this green premieres program And I think for the remainder of today's session what I'm really excited about is actually hearing Testimonials from I believe our mentors and some of our green pernures on their own experience So that they can tell you in their own words What the green pernures program meant to them? so on that note, I would end here and say thank you and That's it So ladies and gentlemen you got a comprehensive overview of the program you understand the immense work the energies the passion the commitment the dedication in terms of the What GGI was doing so ladies and gentlemen I want to give you a round of applause the next person. I'm about to Acknowledge here. We have mr. Daniel Menoza Smith who is the Caribbean representative for GGI give him a warm welcome Round of applause nice to have you with us sir. Thank you And that we hope that the hospitality of our humble island will exceed if not meet your expectations Thank you very much Okay, we now welcome to the podium a good friend of mine mr. came well job at us We work to the Ministry of Agriculture many moons ago He's the direct deputy director of agricultural services and he'll give our keynote address So they put your hands together for mr. Samuel as well Good day everyone Let me extend Big thank you to my friend Ricky Alexander we've been in this pathway for many many moons allow me to adopt the protocol that has been established There are lots of important people in the room So for fear of missing out a really important person, let me say welcome to all the distinguished guests sitting in this room But there's one person in particular that I would like to highlight and I'll tell you why I would like to highlight that individual Here is entrepreneurship and here is Innovation on people starting off and start up projects and start off businesses There's nothing that motivates you and pushes you more than a word spoken at the right time Many many moons ago. I was at a crossroads. I had the opportunity Well, I had the responsibility of deciding do you go to school or do you retain your job because your job says you can't leave now So the public service said I couldn't leave. I Was given one of two options Resigned a job immediately or apply for study leave without pay After six years of service and my good friend who sits in the back and is smiling When she walked into the hallway and saw my distress She says to me came well. What's in your head? No one can take from you And that was all the motivation that I needed to go on to do my degree to do a master's degree and here I am today. So I would like to say a special. Thank you to Mrs. Paul That's just a few words and a smile the same smile You see here was sufficient to motivate me to forget about the salary for two years in the first instance and later on for many Many moons in pursuit of an education That today and into the future is going to reap huge amounts of benefit for myself my family and perhaps my country and the rest of The world you show some appreciation. She's one of the mentors on this program. So I'd like to express my heartfelt Thank you to mrs. Rufina Paul entrepreneurship green printers Entrepreneurship is the ability and the readiness to develop organize and run a business enterprise Along with all of its uncertainties in order to make a profit. Don't forget that little word profit and economics Entrepreneurship connected with is connected with land labor natural resources and capital and it is designed to again generate profit The entrepreneurial vision is divine is defined sorry by discovery risk-taking and is an indispensable part of Nations capacity to succeed in an ever-changing and more competitive global marketplace The entrepreneur is defined as someone who has the ability and desire to establish administer and Succeed in a startup venture along with risk entitled to it to make profits Two things I want you to remember this person has the ability, but is not only driven by ability But there is a desire that motivates that into business pursuits in some and Entrepreneurship is the process of starting and developing a company with the aim of delivering something new or improved to the market Or by organizing the means of production in a superior or new and improved way This process is principally organized through the formation of startup company Managed by the entrepreneurs often on the considerable personal and financial risk and is temporary Enduration as a phase in the business lifecycle a Key distinction between startups and other small or young business is an aspiration Whether it's realized or not to sustainably grow As companies material out of the startup phase they evolve into Sustainable businesses are acquired or sold to public investors or they may decay and may eventually shut down as New companies start up and take their place It is into this conceptual framework that the global green growth Institute the GG GI in partnership with the organization of Eastern Caribbean states the OECS the Carter fund for development six to stress aspiring aspiring and Enterprising entrepreneurs from select Caribbean territories Supporting the pursuit of fulfillment of the ambitions St. Lucia a small island developing state as they are popularly popularly called seeds welcomes the opportunity to partner with these agencies in harnessing regional and global expertise and Affording local entrepreneurs global insights into strategically conceptualizing developing and scaling up the business ideas When the term green printers emerge when I first came across it It seemed like a move to create a trendy concept to attract a certain caliber of Enterprising individuals You know in agriculture. We say let's make agriculture sexy I don't know what that means after so many years of being in the sector I have no idea what that means. However, upon further engagement with the concept and the work of the Eastern Caribbean green entrepreneurship initiative Green printers it is clear that green printers ship offers more than just a trending ideology But more importantly a platform for sustainable business growth and development the incubator accelerator and mentorship components of this program are Essential ingredients in shaping the mind of the young entrepreneurs to remain focused steadfast and committed I want you to remember that word committed for those of you who recently been viewing Gran Turismo one of the things that came out from that particular movie is when you decide to overtake you have to commit to it When you put your mind your talents your treasure into a business you must Commit every aspect of your existence if you're going to see that through to success Make no mistake Insurmountable effort may be offered to the emerging business individual but externally or from other sources But it takes brute force effort and devotion to stay the course through its forming storming Norming and performing stages and emerge a successful venture. I Recon that each one of the participants here today or those that are listed in the brochure has had some measure of difficulty and moments of elation during that startup time You will go through a lot more of these experiences during the course of the development of your business enterprise In those moments remind yourself why you chose that particular path and stay intrinsically motivated to see the process through to successful outcomes The overarching objectives of the GGGI should be kept in the forefront of your minds when striving for excellence Climate actions towards strengthening policy making communities and cities more sustainable live livable and resilient Achieving a sustainable and circular bio economy and Accelerating poverty eradication and gender equality should always be in the forefront of your mind as you seek not only your personal gains But that of national growth and development Each one of the green printers here today must aspire to contribute to these overarching principles as we pursue a more sustainable business environment focused on enhancing productivity efficiency while remaining viable and sustainable I Take a moment to digress to help you get an appreciation of the immense Investments that governments across countries but more specifically in our St. Lucia has made over the years and I'm going to use one that I'm familiar with in the agricultural sector to help you to appreciate that if When resources are made available to you it requires that you commit to making it successful the Kingdom of Morocco has a project a program that is called the green Morocco project in this particular project the government goes in and puts in infrastructure and provides Landspace for the production of primary agricultural produce That project came about because they were losing productivity and efficiency in the production of wheat and grains So they decided to diversify into fresh vegetables and very specifically citrus St Lucia visited Morocco and in partnership with Morocco and providing technical support services We coined what was called the youth agri-entrepreneurial project or short. Yep That particular project sought to establish Young agricultural entrepreneurs to produce very specifically primary products. We're talking about meat whether chicken or Cattle or sheep or whatever and fresh produce and so these young entrepreneurs were given land space access to land space They were given access to housing resources or housing infrastructure for the livestock greenhouse infrastructure for the crops Fast-forward 10 years 15 years down the road These greenhouses a hundred percent are uncovered fast forward to the same time Livestock pens some are doing really well. Some are somewhere between well and not so well However, there's one youngster who stood out and today. He's running about 5000 layer birds Last week he called me he told me he had 2000 dozen eggs and he was trying to dispose of it So here we were making the investments, but the market space had his own challenges But because of his commitment, he was able to creatively find buyers for these 2000 dozens of eggs. Do you understand that 2000 dozen eggs represents? $20,000. I hope you're aware of that When purchased at the massive stores at $10 and So I'm saying always to say that there are going to be many entrants or many entrants into the business environment but only those who are Determined and who are going to take not just the external investments like you noted so many persons are getting this money I'm really wondering what they're going to be doing with it I recognize some of the names because they have applied for concessions at the Ministry of Agriculture and Bravo to them We're gonna make those concessions available, but he has to go beyond just the injection of external funds years ago in 2007 when I started a small farm Borrowed $5,000 from Scotiabank then put in about $5,000 of shoulder grease and a little help from a few friends Started a small farm business fast forward to 2024 It's still up and running has produced thousands of pounds of fresh fruit vegetables That some of you have consumed from massive stores or the hotels that you visit coconut bee and wherever else What has taken is that you? See the difficulties when Tomas came we had to deal with it when December 2013 trough came We had to deal with it when when when storm bread recently came We had to deal with it. You lose you lose investments. You lose crops. Could you imagine when COVID-19 came? I had about 12,000 pounds of cantaloupes honeydew and watermelons piled up and nobody was buying The hotels were shut down and the pile was this high I got pictures to show and nobody was buying and you get up a Year later two years later when these hotels open you get back into business and you carry on with the affairs of your business Let me remind our entrepreneurs today our green printers today to each one his own There are some business enterprises that are glamorous It calls you to dress up to make up to deck up to walk the path to talk the path. It's all about show and Intellect they are some that are not so glamorous See you see why I'm telling you about this making agriculture sexy story See agriculture is multifaceted Primary agriculture has nothing sexy to it. I'm just I just want you to know that Somebody has to prepare the land and some body or some machine has to put the seedling into the ground You tell me how you're going to put the seedling into the ground without using your hands in some gloves or something Somebody has to bend over Harvest the crop That's back breaking. You tell me what you want on the 35 degree sunlight in Delceste, Ozil or Maki estate is hard work But it is rewarding work Do not waste your time trying to compare yourself with the guy who's driving around who's offering a service that requires Intellect or he's offering a service that requires Computer repairs and say boy in me and his hard work. We done no sir Stay the course Now here's the thing that I want you to pay attention to to each one his own the city's young ladies in blue Some of you are going to rise up to be some amazing people in Your own field That requires dressing up sprucing up and some are going to be amazing in other fields That does not appear so attractive But guess what? The beneficiaries of the service or the products that you offer are going to be grateful That you are remaining consistent that you are offering them quality and that you are devoted to that process When you look at a business Like Transportation services in the St. Lucia context with few electric cars. How do you make it green? When you look at services of tractors or tractoring for a farm for example, how do you make it green? The tractor uses diesel It's messy and So when we talk about green printers This is about ensuring that there is integrity in terms of what you do Integrity of process integrity of commitment integrity of the product that is being offered to your consumers To assure them that you have gone through a process where you have undertaken fair practices Your laborers are paid a fair wage and you are looking forward to making your contributions to environmental Sustainability and ensuring that you are environmentally friendly Ladies and gentlemen the government of St. Lucia the Ministry of Agriculture indeed Applauds the work of the Sustainable Development Department and other agencies that have come together to offer these services And like I said to you I have seen at least three of those names in terms of applications for concession and So in the frame of each one is own remind yourself that when you're going to build your business that you build it with integrity Integrity of process and product. You're going to build it on fairness You're going to build it on social and environmental responsibility once the final thought as we move forward Just this week we had a meeting and the word innovation showed up You know after so long of using the word innovation. It is still a really sad on Polly on the suit word. It's like love It's pretty much like love You know, you hear you hear us administrators talk about will we can fall to innovation you hear our policy makers the politicians talk about it, you know innovation innovation innovation Ladies and gentlemen youngsters in the room As you grow and develop and as time elapses Processes will change products will need to be improved people will be looking for something novels for something different This is what innovation is all about If you are familiar with the Bible, there's a scripture that says there's nothing brand new under the Sun and That is an all-true statement however Innovators are those persons who see the challenges and come up with creative ideas to offer something that is different Something that is that is seemingly novel that is attractive to consumers Innovators are those persons who look at a product and say, how can I improve it? Innovators are those who look at a service and say, how can I make it more efficient? How could I reduce losses? How can I reduce ways? Innovators will are those who walk onto the farms and see post harvest losses and say, how do I reduce those post harvest losses? Are those who walk onto the supermarket shelves and see produce that that's not properly processed And so you see some rotten apples and some rotten pears and I'm trying to wonder why they keep them on the shelf It's one of the story and say how could we do things differently to ensure that we minimize food waste food loss And that's all the stuff and so as we move forward and seek to maintain The green in entrepreneurship. These are some of the thoughts that I would like to keep you like I would like for you to keep in Your mind, how could we enhance efficiency reduce losses and above all keep profitability somewhere in the mix and personal satisfaction I have seen people in profitable businesses, but they're not satisfied. They're not contented and So all of these come together and converge and Help to determine whether you are going to be successful in your pursuits As a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, I would like to reiterate Our commitment to supporting those green printers who are going to come to us for support in moving forward Let me again remind you that there's a huge amount of external support But do not be carried away with it and do not allow it to distract you from Maintaining focus on what is important ensuring that your pursuits are one that is successful You know, sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where people have this entitlements mentality because government offers all these safety net programs Do not be hoodwinked by safety net programs Remind yourself that when I'm challenged by risk when I'm challenged by failure that I'm going to fall forward If this business falls for whatever reason I'm going to allow it to fall forward so when I get up I am a little further up front than when I actually stop and so with these few words I'd like to thank the organizers of this program and also to thank the GGGI and other agencies for Welcoming the Ministry to partner with with you on on these initiatives I'll be looking forward to hang the testimonials of the successful businesses that already ruled out But that are going to grow to become major enterprises providing services Products to our nation and to our people with this I say, thank you very much very profound thought-provoking Presentation amidst there there are some Issues in terms of motivating you as well. It reminds me Of one of my favorite quotes I saw a little bit of Martin Lofa King in there that the true measure of a person is not where you stand in time of Comfort and luxury but where you stand in times of difficulty challenges and adversity and Entrepreneurship will bring up some of those things so to stay on course to stay maintain the integrity and the quality is critical Her number plus again for our keynote speaker mr. Samuel Mr. Kimble job at us. Let me call on miss Royce Lynn Howell from the small business development Center the small business senior business development officer to share some remarks with us welcome Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for the opportunity to be here Protocol have been established. I wish to extend regards on behalf of our director at the SBDC this afternoon we've heard some very thought-provoking Messages and I am here not only to speak on behalf of the SBDT SBDC But to underscore our government the government of sandwiches efforts and commitment This afternoon. I want to stress that The policy positions of a government towards greening and climate resilience Extend to our partners in trade and industry throughout and I'm happy that the Representative from agriculture spoke so vociferously on the support that is already being given to agriculture and Towards entrepreneurship our obligation to these initiatives aligns with the global efforts that Have to promote sustainable development Exemplifying our dedication to creating a greener and more resilient future for our nation And I want to stress even this morning when we were at a meeting discussing some of our processes We were addressing a matter which is now one of our pet projects to support entrepreneurs For what we call MSME loan grant facility, which is get towards also providing support To our MSC MSME sector While we were at the discussion we ourselves were grappling with issues of sustainability and let me explain what I mean when we spoke about Creating a process that was seamless one of the challenges that rose arose was the idea of becoming more digitalized moving away from paper Because what we have been asking for submissions of application on paper now has to be in a form that we can now say we can help our planet And that's the reality that we are now faced with so we can't just be speaking towards the entrepreneur Entrepreneurs transitioning, but also our position within the government Creating that kind of environment, which also supports sustainable futures So as we navigate those challenges You know the government of send us a recognizes the urgency of adapting and adopting sustainable practices Not just for the MSME sector, but within the government itself the government services We recognize the devastating impacts of climate change Which have felt worldwide and its responsibility Our responsibility to our each of my mitigate those efforts and build resilience in our communities in collaboration with those partners such as global green Growth institutes and the OECS under this initiative. We are encouraged to develop and implement policies that prioritize green initiatives and climate resilience strategies these partnerships highlight our commitment to working collectively on a regional and global scale to address the pressing issues of climate change and At the SBDC the small business development center we find ourselves in the unique position also of transitioning to adapt and help our clients adopt green entrepreneurship at the forefront of the initiative to Build their businesses and make money, which is a fundamental thing when you get into business So here we are trying to foster a business community create that business community Which will now introduce and embrace Sustainable practices have reduced the carbon footprint and contribute to the broader growth broader broader goal of achieving green growth The GGI GGI has been instrumental in providing technical expertise and guidance in the advancement of the promotion of green practices among MSMEs By leveraging the expertise That we've provided we have at least ten or eleven eleven local entrepreneurs Which we are very happy to see on the brochure some of whom we work very closely with and now better equipped Through funds that they have received under the OECS green printers project They're now better equipped to design implement and implement sustainable practices within their businesses and that is not only to the benefit of the bottom line but to encourage the environment Then the development of the environment sustainable practices And so we are wish to commend those 11 entrepreneurs highlighted here and Encourage that they remain Committed and the here again the word commitment comes in to the practices that will help preserve our planet and our people Further we can also state that at the SBDC we have had the privilege of receiving training under the same projects and Being part of certain discussions for strategic alignments with the other other BSOs around the region Certainly the SBDC recognizes the reason the relevance of an integrated approach to achieve needed promotion and transformation of MSMEs towards climate resilience and greening practices And when we speak of integration, this is where we encourage networking networking among Partner ministries partner agencies so that this Process does not remain a burden only of the MSMEs But that our agencies can come together and form those synergies that can support our entrepreneurs in meaningful tangible ways So our collaboration now under this project We we are very happy to have been part of it and Through the project the SBDC recognizes the support mentorship and resources which were given to our entrepreneurs which now enables them to transform their ideas into successful environmentally conscious businesses in conclusion as an agent of the state and Representing the Ministry of Commerce in particular we remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting the green initiatives in trade and industry and in entrepreneurship and Through the partnerships that have already been forged We feel confident that our ability to create sustainable resilient a resilient future foundation remains a reality Today together we can build an economy that not only thrives but also Preserves the beauty of this natural Beautiful landscape that is our homeland St. Lucia and we want this for generations to come so let me thank you for Giving me this opportunity and wish all of you the very best as you continue forging forward with your projects Thank you very much, Mrs. Howell for your inspiring and positive message of encouragement Now we're going to share some experiences the GreenPrincess program Let me just tell you that one of the Individuals participants who are supposed to be here with us today, and let me see how I can put this as Experiencing a trauma in her buckle cavity so the technical term for this is Oh then Targe here, which is the dentist way of saying a two-fig Okay, so miss Bernice Blanchett will not be able to join us today because she experienced so let me call on Mrs. Rufina Paul one of the mentors to share some experiences with us put your hands together Thank you, Mr. Chairperson Protocol haven't been established Let me just say it's indeed a pleasure to be here to share the experiences that we've had Mr. Shabbat is It took me by surprise, but I wasn't away at the time of What the impact was but I must say my days made I mean, you know, I can die now at least one person Was impacted by something I said, okay? So I think and just watching you and listening to you as an elder person Older person I think you know we can say okay. We did something although agriculture wise we're not happy with The legacy that seems to be plaguing us Really untruly But moving forward, let me just give the business of today I Was asked to be a mentor with the Gigi project Initially with so much happening. I said, hmm Really, but then we made time. I made time to get it done and then when we did get the partnerships done I was partnered with somebody who's my colleague Jennifer Minaj who isn't to agriculture and I'm saying what can I tell Jennifer? What can I teach her really into your mentor about? in terms of what she was venturing into but the Gruner Mentorship program women matched and it provided us with an opportunity for us to support each other It was really a learning and an exchange Among two idols experiencing agriculture but we learned from each other and We started off with the guidance of the GG GI office in the mentorship code of conduct and expectations worksheet We had to be clear what it is that we were going to do and how we were going to make that happen and interestingly we signed on to that code of conduct and Expectation worksheet in November 2021 The experience was one of learning and we're both of us as as mentor and mentee we collaborated and We and I for sure got to understand better the intricacies of her particular enterprise, which was microgreens And I did some reading on my own to just understand it better So GG GI really encouraged us as mentors and mentees to use the worksheet to create an agreement that established a framework for success And the frequency of our communication had to be established how often we're going to be seeing each other We also agreed on What our communication was going to be through whether it's WhatsApp or zoom or whatever and We collaborated it started off in January of 2022 The if of January to be exact because I had to go back to my archive to see what the process was and Interestingly, I got through where we had to at the end of it all which was really 20th of February Which is my birthday in 2022 when we signed off on what we had actually done and When I looked at it in January the ace we did a session looking at Organizational values. What exactly was going to be our engagement one favor on January 18th 30th 17th We looked at the pitch and the organizational values. We also looked at the pitch again on January 19th We looked at the survey that instrument that she had developed to do her market survey And we looked at the financial model various things really overall Maybe 10 to 12 hours of interaction over the time period in about 10 engagement so to speak and so When we set off to get it all done, we had to also base on the guidance given from GGI office What was going to be her goals? We're having my goals As a mentee her goals were getting help in finding startup grants help with the lean canvas Platform and also fine-tuning her technical processes My goals as mentor was one where I wanted to apply logical thinking I'm based on my background logic is what guides me It has to be logical for us to proceed if I can't where we will need to get that through Also, I've learned over the years to become an active listener So active listening to what exactly was her mission and what she wanted to achieve and exchange in experiences and Best practices in terms of what I could have offered her not from a microgreens perspective, but from a general experiences of life and Also, my goal as well was one of having effective collaboration in the design of a transformative green business model So we agreed now goes we sign it off and everything else So as we got the achievement of the goals, we agreed to have clear communication and Also of being open to learning and receiving feedback and I think that's too mature others We did that when I was asked by Mr. Alexander to share our experiences. I called her and asked her how are you doing? Where are you now? And she said the The engagement was a good one Generally the program is good the most helpful part for her was obviously the financial support She got to really get the start up on going She said the training was practically very instructive because you spoke about the 12 weeks of intense training I think that was really for some people they learned quite a bit, but for her the most The highlighted part for her was the marketing component and looking at market segmentation and so and I'm learning from that I'm leading out to the financial model in a cell and everything like that And she also said that in terms of her Engagement over the time period that the one-on-one with resource persons also said because there would be times when some things that you would want to Get clarity on that one-on-one allowed for more in-depth Clarification as opposed to in the classrooms getting when you had the zoom sessions So for her that help and also I think there was a watch subgroup which was established the peer-to-peer exchanges also assisted in terms of Getting some clarification cross-fertilizing ideas and also sharing experiences as part of peer learning So there was that both horizontal learning and also the vertical through the resource persons becoming engaged And a recommendation she has is that there needs to be continued technical support and I guess maybe financial to item She didn't tell me that part, but I assume they need to be continued reaching out and saying okay How you doing what's happening? What is the issue moving forward or maybe a solution has indicated from its job at this the ministry is obviously waiting and Begging for some green bitterness to come through so that you know we can probably up the ante in agriculture So the experience for her was good And for me also it allowed me to spend some time rethinking into agriculture Because I have been more engaged in sports over the last so let me just allow me to segue into sports If you may for two seconds and to say that from a Gigi perspective, mr. Smith I think we we need to look at sports as a business and So I have left the mentorship if you don't mind. Is that okay? I Am doing some advocacy now and some marketing in terms of sports particularly in netball If I could say so as well that we need to begin to look at how sports can become a platform for greening And actually from a netball perspective last year We did some of that with our young persons and we're also going to be hosting a similar tournament in Saint Lucia in April where we got them into understanding the whole issue of Greening and what can be done and encouraging them when they go back home to develop advocacy groups within their own domains as far as with management Water harvesting just what you eat as well nutrition wise is important what we eat I see some of our players coming to training and the nutrition is not what will help you To really get out of yourself Your best potential so there is some level of greening to be done at various levels So I'm just making a pitch that we need to look at sports as an era of engagement And I probably will engage with Laura and mr. Smith some other time as far as how we can really engage in terms of becoming more green in sports and how sports of itself is a very good platform for really Populating or really popularizing the whole aspect of a green a green economy in our various countries Not just Saint Lucia, but also the region has a whole so having said that I want to say thanks for having me and it was a pleasure Thank you so much This is Rufina Paul and of course it gives me immense joy to introduce the next speaker who is One of my mentee as well so put your hands together for miss Ronda St. Hill blanchard. Good afternoon all Protocols already been established. It is a pleasure to be here with you this afternoon. I Would like to take this opportunity to thank gggi and the team for the invaluable techniques processes Experience that has been impacted on regal farms Sorry, I am grateful for all the tireless nights the numerous Assignments that we had to complete and working with my mentors and my coach who are here today and They're working with me tirelessly during the night to ensure that assignments are Completed that I meet all the requirements Connections established with my colleagues. I am utterly grateful for I came into the program knowing business and accounting, which is my field, however Social in canvas I knew nothing about and I must say this has been a wonderfully Done and everything because I can walk into the bank now and show them I have I am ready for business I have everything that I need You know to let's talk so they were actually surprised when I had all my documents ready I came with my theory of change. I came in with everything so The institutions were really happy that I was I actually had those Documents with with me because they're saying, you know, this is the first time somebody's actually so prepared You know, so thank you for that. I Have some hope that my business journey is on the right path to being successful Sustainable and adaptive to change. I was a proud recipient of the 10,000 US $10,000 grant and with this I assisted the Duga primary and I have completed my shaded greenhouse, which hopefully I will be getting my Bugs so that my grow bags or mushrooms so that I can start production So once again, I would like to thank you for the opportunity of foreign and Invaluable journey and becoming a green premier. Thank you Thank you very much, Mrs. Blanchard And so we making some slight changes we calling on miss Kelly James a mentor to give the vote of thanks Put your hands together Pleasant Evelyn everyone My name is Kelly James. I was one of the mentor on the GGI. I just want to say This evening that I feel very honored It's a privilege to get the opportunity from the GGI to present to you today And I just want to say thank you so very much for this special occasion I would like to also thank all the honors and the delegate who is here today in this room He should everyone looking very lovely today. I Will say so thank you so very much And I also want to thank the program Advisor the committee the member and also each and every speaker that are here today I just want to say today is a very splendorous day and it's my pleasure to say thank you to each and everyone I do hope each and every one of us will enjoy this Evelyn and we will get home safely Thank you so very much Thank you very much. And let me just briefly say that there's through the networking in In the region This Caribbean Center for excellent for sustainable livelihoods course cell my colleague miss Marcia Brandon just sent me this earlier on is offering a maximum of 15 fully funded scholarships to Caribbean MSMEs and the team members to attend an ILO certified course and greening my enterprise for enterprises entrepreneurs with differentiated value who adopt a green economy and Growth model to position themselves in the market with a triple impact on society the economy and the environment So we'll be sharing that as well and you will get in that information. So a lot is happening So let me call on mr. Dinesh this one. That's one a GGI communications to wrap up the proceedings Put your hands together. Thank you speaker. Oh, sorry miss Alexander. Sorry. Thank you. I Like to adopt protocol. That's already been established. Yes So we're here at the conclusion of the inaugural Green Pinner's week Of course the append inclusion of phase one of the Eastern Caribbean green entrepreneurship initiative This marks the pinnacle of a remarkable journey that has profoundly influenced sustainable development and innovation in our region Over the past three years generously supported by the Qatar fund for development This initiative has empowered numerous individuals many of them here today businesses and Communities to embrace green entrepreneurship as a powerful force for positive change As we bid farewell to this chapter our heartfelt appreciation goes out to all the participants The stakeholders and mentors the governments the coaches the facilitators the and the dedicated team with unwavering Commitments and collaborative efforts are proposed this initiative to a resounding success A special acknowledgement to the organization of Eastern Caribbean states Not only for the exceptional partnership, but for also the new role beyond this phase being the focal point Ensuring that a continuity of green entrepreneurship grows in our region. I Like to extend gratitude like Laura did to Janice Henderson Whose leadership in us as a facilitator in the last two years has Inspired many green pennies inside here as well to strive for greatness a heartfelt. Thank you to Daria boyouts our former Admin finance and procurement senior associate for a steadfast dedication to the program a Mention of melody Nixon who has taken over the role of admin finance and procurement for this program I know you just joined the program recently, but you've done so much so already for the program. So that's good. Thank you Our graduate extends the business support units. I think Laura mentioned that as well span in the eastern Caribbean The Antigone Barberia Investment Authority the Dominica export and important agency the small business development center in San kids and the center for enterprise development in San Vincent's Reserva special appreciation for boosts and Lucia, which was part of invest in Lucia and For Grenada Investment Development Corporation for the invaluable contributions during the program in its inaugural year a heartfelt thank you goes out to Kimmel in Regis and a team in Grenada as well as Ricky Alexander in St Lucia for their recent contributions, which has significantly enriched our endeavors To every single green pinner coach and mentor was participated your dedication Your creativity and your passion has been to drive and force behind this initiative We are proudly grateful for your willingness to embrace the challenges and the opportunities for green entrepreneurship Stephanie Matthew our monetary and evaluation and learning associate deserves recognition for ensuring our impacts were timely and effective Dr. Kristen Deason our former country representative and Daniel Munoz Smith our current Caribbean representative have provided invaluable guidance throughout this journey Quacy Roberts and to Pearl Joseph from the OECS competitive business unit have been steadfast supporters of an unwavering assistance for every single stage in our journey We must acknowledge our counterparts in the GGI Pacific office Whose collaboration and contributions have been instrumental and effective and Finally Finally a heartfelt thank you and tribute to miss Laura John the heartbeat of the initiative Without her tightest dedication over the past three years. We don't have the witness the remarkable outcomes the program has achieved today Together we have received over 400 applications awarded 57 grantees Supported over 80 green businesses created over 150 jobs and still counting Notably 63% of those participants were women 40% were youth We injected 1.2 million US dollars Equivalent to our estimated of 3.2 million EC dollars into the green entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region Paving a way for crucial expansions job creations and economic success This formal program is concluding however the legacy of innovation and I would again eviduation Resilience and sustainable development has fostered in to endure Shaping a brighter and more prosperous future for the Eastern Caribbean region and beyond and that I thank you So ladies and gentlemen, we conclude let me just make some apologies For our showcase One of our participants was stuck in the bad little just coming from thing with the goods and things to showcase My mentee signs and stuff Accelerate finance. It was not ready yet and we had some some a few of things like that as well So we apologize for that but part of the challenges in terms of navigating that as well so we close the program with the Eco creations a little fashion to change them. Let me welcome eco creations Hi, good afternoon everyone My name is Donna Hyacinth and I'm the founder of eco creations and eco creations We collect unwanted clothing and we upcycle that into simple and unique outfits So I'm here with my colleague today kisha and butcher who is a creative designer and she's also the founder of creations Well, that's her own business We came together we decided to come together to create a collection for an upcycle collection for Caribbean fashion week So we are here today to show you guys six looks that we designed for Caribbean fashion week So this design this collection was inspired by the hustle and bustle and energy of the city so we created this collection from cargo and denim pants just pants So In our area of green designing we were able to make our designs sexy Unlike agriculture. We know agriculture cannot be sexy So we were able to make it sexy. So very first we have two beautiful models every first today to Showcase to you guys six of our collections. Thank you