Saint Lucia: The Ministry of Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Consumer Affairs, and Cooperatives, through its Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), is going to be hosting an opening ceremony for its inaugural SBDC Young Entrepreneurs in Action (SBDC YEA!) Programme.

The SBDC YEA! is a two-year summer job attachment programme which is designed to equip secondary school students with the various entrepreneurial skills to set up their own businesses. The official rite will occur on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The ceremony took place at the Finance Administrative Centre, Pointe Seraphine, Castries.

In the current society, the majority of young individuals face unemployment leading to fewer career development opportunities, lower wage levels, poorer prospects for better jobs, as well as ultimately lower pensions.

As a result, this affects the youth and society on a large scale, leading to risen crime and poverty. Therefore, the objective of the programme is to empower students with the knowledge and skills to develop innovative and creative business ideas through work-based learning experiences such as apprenticeship, mentorship, internship as well as job shadowing all over the range of sectors. The vision is for our youth to opt for self-employment when determining their career path.

The SBDC Young Entrepreneurs in Action (SBDC YEA!) Programme commences in the month of August 2022. The core objectives include:

To promote an entrepreneurial culture and hands-on experience among the youth, particularly secondary school students from Forms 4 to 5.

To serve as an entrepreneurship programme to be carried out between the SBDC Clients as well as students from selected secondary schools throughout the island.

To permit SBDC clients an opportunity to transfer skills as well as knowledge to students.

To provide SBDC clients with additional staff to improve productivity levels.