The Ministry of Public Works has collaborated with the Black Entrepreneur Association (BEA) to offer training to its membership regarding the process of bidding and acquiring contracts from the government.
This commitment was made by Minister Juan Edghill during a meeting with the Association. According to a statement on the Ministry’s Facebook Page, the group sought audience with the Minister to discuss opportunities under the Ministry, and in particular, the procurement process.
“To this end, Minister Edghill has committed to ensuring a familiarisation/training session on the subject, to take place soon,” the statement read.
In an interview with this publication, Vice Chair of the BEA Dr Melissa Varswyk, shared that the training, which will be held next month, will see a procurement team from the Ministry outlining the step-by-step processes, best practices, and the dos and don’ts of procuring contracts.
According to the Vice Chair, the Association has some members who have, over time, been applying for government contracts, but have not been successful.
She noted too that the Association plans to reach out to other Ministries and Government Agencies that can aid in the development of small businesses and give them exposure to available opportunities.
“We have skilled personnel, skilled companies, very credible companies, all fully compliant and so forth, who may not know, and because they are new to the scope…they may not have the expertise, whether it is in bidding…or other aspects to promote their business and for business development,” Varswyk noted.
“We want to help in that regard, to get them at the table, let them have exposure to what is there that they can capitalise on, and then take it from there towards their personal growth and development.”
The BEA is an organisation where Afro-Guyanese entrepreneurs come together to support each other in the growth and development of their businesses and to achieve mutual goals. The organisation, which has over 300 members, was founded in 2020.
Over the past years, the organisation has assisted entrepreneurs with getting their businesses fully compliant and registered so as to make it easier to form partnerships and acquire contracts as they wish.
“We have been doing series of training over the years to make sure that businesses are in compliance,” Varswyk added.
Meanwhile, the organisation also aims to assist entrepreneurs with acquiring capital for their businesses by bringing financial institutions on board and providing them with partnership opportunities through collaboration with many entities.
“What we’re also working is to help to find capital because that is the number one issue our survey showed that black entrepreneurs had, one was capital, and two, was basically infrastructure for growth. We build…partnerships so that our membership can at least try to now explore partnership with other companies…whether local or international and also to gain…or seek financing from financial institutions that we’re bringing to the table to help meet their needs,” she noted.
