Invest SVG bids farewell to Agard-Juillerat

After holding the post of business facilitation manager at Invest SVG for the last eight years Nadine Agard-Juillerat has moved on.

Last Friday, August 29 was her last day on the job, and during an interview she stressed that holding that position has helped her grow both professionally and as a person.{{more}}

Having joined the Invest SVG team on September 6, 2006, Agard-Juillerat commented, “When I came here, I don’t think I am the same person I was back then. I think that when you work for an organisation like this, you experience tremendous degrees of growth in a lot of areas,” said Agard-Juillerat who added that she was very shy and scared of speaking to audiences.

“I could articulate, but I was shy, but this position makes you confident because you have to be confident. It forces you to research and read and absorb and all these things you have to be able to speak about them when asked on demand. You have to do it when you go to trade shows and when you meet clients on a daily basis. You speak to marketers, so having the information on the tip of your tongue is expected and it makes it easier over a period of time,” stressed the Cane Garden resident.

Agard-Juillerat who speaks a little French, Spanish, German and Arabic explained that her job was, “basically to hold the hands of Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) that come from abroad and are unfamiliar with our jurisdiction.”

She says that the person who replaces her must always take into consideration that the job helps in the development of the country and in the fight against poverty alleviation among other things.

She added that her job saw her making sure that the investors’ stay was as easy as possible in terms of the investment process by introducing them to who they needed to meet and which sector was relevant to them.

“You try to open as many doors for them as possible and make the experience seamless and make sure they feel comfortable here,” said Agard-Juillerat.

Giving advice to her replacement (not yet chosen), Agard-Juillerat said that that person must work hard, “and remember who you represent when you go out.”

“Think about all the poor people you will help. Don’t go out and play, work hard for your people…bring a jacket to work every single day, because you don’t know who will walk through the door and you must always look professional,” she said giving advice.

Agard-Juillerat is a past student of the Kingstown Preparatory School, the Girls’ High School and the Grammar School sixth form. She is also a graduate of the University of Rhode Island (USA) where she pursued studies in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.

Giving a little insight into her job, she added that she had to use every single language that she knows on a regular basis while noting that even her knowledge of Arabic was utilised when an investor from Qatar visited this country.

“The simple fact that somebody could offer him a glass of water in Arabic, he felt good. He was happy that people in St Vincent and the Grenadines could speak to him in his own language.”

She said that she has worked with a lot of investors and Invest SVG has a really good relationship with a number of them.

Going on, Agard-Juillerat said that one of her more memorable experiences was when Invest SVG did the Vincy Innovators Expo (VIPO) which was designed to stimulate the export development potential of our local manufacturers which included the local creative sector.

VIPO was held on Saturday April 27 and Sunday, April 28, 2013 at the Diamond Industrial Estate and gave local business people the opportunity to showcase their products as well as gather information from the various seminars that will be held.

“VIPO was a good feeling because the entire organisation worked together and every single person made a worthwhile contribution to make it a success,” said Agard-Juillerat.

Chairman at Invest SVG Anthony Regisford, described Agard-Juillerat as a diligent, conscientious and hardworking person with a passion for what she does.

“She clearly demonstrates that in the way she goes about her work. She recognised that we are trying to help the country develop and alleviate poverty and she recognised this and applied herself. We would miss her. Hopefully we can continue some sort of relationship,” said Regisford.

Executive director of Invest SVG, Bernadette Ambrose-Black described Agard-Juillerat as an extremely meticulous person and a hard worker.

“Nadine has been consistent in her work and has a very professional outlook. We worked very closely and I learnt a lot about business facilitation from her among other things. I am very sad to see her go, this is a tremendous loss and I hope we can retain her on a consultancy basis,” said Ambrose-Black on Friday.

Ambrose-Black says that the business facilitation manager position has been advertised.

Agard-Juillerat was recently married and will be moving to Kentucky, USA to be with her husband. She will be involved in consultancy work.