A delegation of Caribbean officials responsible for the development of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector participated in the Annual Conference of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC), Sept. 11 in Orlando, Fl., according to the Organization of American States (OAS).
The OAS said that the conference, which ran from Sept. 9-13, 2013, was held in the context of the project “Establishment of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) in CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Member States.”
It was implemented by the Department of Economic and Social Development of the Organization of America States (OAS).
The OAS said the Caribbean delegation comprised 13 representatives from the five countries that are participating in the process of adapting the Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) model – Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica and St. Lucia.
The Annual Conference of the ASBDC brought together more than 1,400 SBDC professionals, trainers, consultants, managers and administrative personnel, and offered a wide variety of training opportunities.
It also included over 130 workshops, training sessions, roundtables, general sessions, working luncheons and an Exhibit Hall, “equipping small business consultants with the professional development they seek to continually enhance services to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs,” the OAS said.
It said the Caribbean representatives also had the opportunity to participate in the Small Business Network of the Americas (SBNA) Sister Center Workshop, organized by the United States Department of State. The workshop brought together representatives of small and medium-sized enterprise support institutions from across the Western Hemisphere and directors of USSBDCs “to explore ways of creating international sister center partnerships under SBNA.”
