Two workshops that will promote youth entrepreneurship are scheduled to take place here later this month.{{more}}

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Barbados and OECS office, which has been working in partnership with the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) in implementing the Youth-IN Entrepreneurship Program throughout CARICOM Member States, will conduct a Mini Business Labs and a Business Labs Workshop during the week of November 26 to 30.

The Youth-IN Entrepreneurship Program is collaborating with the Centre for Enterprise Development Inc (CED) to host the activities as part of the program.

The Mini Business Labs Training Session, which is a four-hour session, will take place on Monday, November 26th. It will provide participants with a more general overview of how they can put their business/project ideas into a more organized format and focus their business goals further.

The Business Labs Training is a four-day [November 27-30] hands-on workshop for young people to learn the principles of opening a business, and engage in a practical exercise where they create a small business during the week of training. The YABT has been developing this program for over 10 years.

Both training workshops will also prepare participants for their participation in the Caribbean Innovation Challenge (CIC), which is another component of the Youth-IN program. To read more about the CIC, please review the official CIC website: http://www.youthin-cic.net/ . Registration is now open for interested persons.

According to YABT’s program manager Rafael Pinto, the workshops are designed to target youths aged 16 to 29 years.

“The upcoming trainings of the Youth-IN Entrepreneurship Program in St Vincent and the Grenadines is another important step for the support of entrepreneurship development in the country,” Pinto stressed. “Collaborating with important local partners such as the Centre for Enterprise Development Inc, we encourage the young people to register for the Caribbean Innovation Challenge (CIC) competition, where they will have opportunities to access resources, onsite and online trainings and continuous follow up to help them develop further their business ideas. We look forward to supporting this growing “ecosystem” of entrepreneurship in the country.”

CED’s training coordinator Keisha Phillips, says they are happy to partner with the YABT.

“CED welcomes this partnership with YABT because as you know we also have our Youth Business and Entrepreneurship Training (YOUBET) programme, which is specifically designed to foster the culture of youth entrepreneurship among young people in St Vincent and the Grenadines; so we see this as an opportunity, not just to compliment what we are already doing, but also as a chance to further push the concept of youth entrepreneurship and help better position our youths to enter the world of business.

“We have written to the Ministry of Education and the principals of secondary schools inviting them to select students who have a knack for business or are already engaged in such to participate in these workshops,” Phillips explained. “Also we have invited stakeholders such as the Youth Affairs Department, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Invest SVG, the Development Foundation, among others, to have their clients who fit this age group to participate in the training exercises.”

Interested persons may contact Phillips at telephone 451-2235/6 for more information and to register for these activities. Registration closes on Wednesday, November 21, 2012.