Small businesses rewarded for their efforts

Catering company Courtyard Caterers Ltd walked away with this year’s top award during the Small Business Association (SBA) awards ceremony for Small Business Week 2020.

The curtain event for the highly anticipated annual Small Business Week of celebrations, was held on Friday evening and was done with a difference – virtually.

And instead of written submissions this year, companies vying for the awards had to do video presentations, which Chief Executive Officer of the SBA Senator Dr Lynette Holder described as “quite good” and “high quality”.

In addition to capturing the Entrepreneurship Award, Courtyard Caterers, a 2019 Entrepreneur Spirit of the Nation awardee, was also the recipient of the Small Business category award for 2020.

The Entrepreneurship awardee must demonstrate innovation, adequately manage their finances, maintain employment for the year and show corporate social responsibility.

Skincare company Imora captured the Minister’s Award, which is in its second year, and the Micro Business of the Year Award.

The President’s Award went to graphics and design company Southpaw Grafix Inc.

Winner of the Business Start-up category was the recently opened Barbados office of the Italian-based quarry company, Saturnia Travertini Italia.

Meanwhile, the Group Membership Award went to the copyright Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Inc. (COSCAP).

In addition to a trophy, winners received several prizes including cash, complimentary passes for entrepreneurship training series and two months social media advertising by the SBA.

Holder said she was confident the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises sector can “beat covid-19”, while urging them to retool to ensure the sector comes out “stronger, fitter and take the economy at the next level” after the pandemic.

Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerrie Symmonds said he was eager to see the MSME sector embracing QR codes, which could be used as a key marketing strategy, and working closer with the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI) in order to become export ready.

And he is promising that his ministry would do what was necessary to achieve the desired outcome.

“We want to get everybody to the stage where they see themselves as reaching an export level platform,” said Symmonds.

“It is vitally important we work with the BNSI, and that we reposition the BNSI to be more proactive, nimble and build out the kind of quality infrastructure that allows us to have national quality testing in every area of endeavour,” he said.

He added: “it is a challenge we have to get right and get right quickly so that we are able to put ourselves on the next footing for as many enterprises as possible to put us in a position to diversify the base of this economy and put us in a position to earn some scarce foreign exchange, especially given the fact that the traditional foreign exchange earner is having its own challenges”.

He said coming out of the pandemic, enterprises should learn greater self-reliance and greater determination “to overcome all imaginable future obstacles”.

Meanwhile, newly elected President of the SBA Neil Corbin expressed excitement for the winners of this year’s awards, saying they should feel especially proud since they have done so during a global health pandemic and depressed economy.

A start-up company is a firm operating for a period of 12 months or less; a micro enterprise is one with five or fewer people and earn under $25,000 per year; small business is a company with up to 25 employees and earn up to $2 million; a medium sized enterprise is one that employs more than 25 workers and earn up to $5 million annually.

Approximately 80 per cent of the SBA membership is made up of micro enterprises while the rest is made up of small businesses and a miniscule number of medium enterprises.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb