News

Commerce Minister Hon. Joey Hew recently (Wednesday, March 18) announced that the Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development, which will provide support to small businesses across the Islands especially during this current crisis, will open on Monday, March 23.

He was speaking at the press conference hosted by government at the Government Administration Building.

“In response to the anticipated economic fall-out for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from COVID-19, the Government, through the Ministry of Commerce will assist small businesses across the Islands to weather the disruption caused by the virus so that they can recover as quickly as possible, he said.

Minister Hew continued, “We are in discussions with the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce, the Cayman Islands Small Business Association, and other groups to agree on tangible solutions to assist our small and micro-sized enterprises to retool and repurpose in this new environment…While the Centre has been established to support small businesses in general, the particular focus now will be on those businesses that are severely impacted as a result of COVID-19”.

The services being offered by the Centre for Business Development to the public will begin with a focus on business continuity training and coaching.

Minister Hew urged small and medium-sized enterprises with an urgent need for assistance with cash flow management, business impact analysis or those that need to redesign or re-think their business models to contact the Centre.

The Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development will offer a number of training and coaching sessions over the upcoming weeks. These sessions will include topics such Smart Measures for Business Continuity, Best Practices for Handling Cash Flow Crisis, Contacting a Business Impact Analysis, Business Model Innovation, Social Media Marketing, among other areas.

Through the training and coaching sessions, the Centre will also work with small businesses to them to be in a position to renegotiate existing loans with commercial banks or to request and access a period of moratorium on loans.

The business coaching sessions will be a pre-requisite for accessing renegotiated loans. The plan of assistance will also include the infusion of capital into the sector over which the Centre will provide monitoring oversight.

As a result of current circumstances surrounding the coronavirus, the staff members at the Centre will conduct meetings with clients by appointments, via telephone or virtually at this time.

The Centre will be staffed by Director, Mrs. Althea West-Myers; Senior Business Advisor/Director Designate, Mrs. Thais Ducent and Business Advisor, Ms. Antoleen Williams.

Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development is located at Bay Town Plaza, 36 West Bay Road in Grand Cayman. Persons interested in making an appointment can call 244-3451 or 244-2498 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and 926-5771, up to 10:00 p.m.