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Access AcceleratorSmall Business Development Centre

annual report2018-2019

annual report2018-2019

what’s inside?

message from the deputy prime minister 02

message from the chairman 04

message from the executive director 06

our mission 08

who are we? what are we? 09

a culture of entrepreneurship & innovation 10

our management: first class top brass 15

the economic impact of 2018/2019 17

2018/19: the story [year in review] 22

vision for 2019/2020 27

appendix i 29

appendix ii 31

In the last year under the extraordinaryleadership of Chairman Geoff Andrews

and Executive Director Davinia Grant,seventeen entrepreneurs have receivedover B$1 million in funding to make theirdreams reality. These seventeen have created 21 new jobs between them, a smallbut impressive start to the jobs they willcontinue to create in the years to come.This is the meaning of economic empower-ment. What the Access Accelerator SBDCallows businesses to do is going to transform our economy for the better.

I think of Benjamin Davis, a recent University of The Bahamas graduate whose electric car rentals will encourage agreener Bahamas. I consider Jannis White,a long-time social worker who has beenempowered to further develop her sewingbusiness “A Stitch in Time” and I recognizethat those seventeen entrepreneurs repre-

sent Bahamians of all ages and from allwalks of life. Each recipient this year had a different company but every single one ofthem has the desire to see our nationimproved through their innovation.

Our government remains committed to the vision we charted when we agreed tofinancially support the Access AcceleratorSBDC a year ago. We look forward to see-ing the success stories to come and,ultimately, toward a better Bahamalandbecause of a better economy.

We’ve only just begun.

Sincerely,

K. Peter Turnquest, Deputy PrimeMinister & Minister of FinanceThe Commonwealth of The Bahamas

message from the deputy prime minister

Access Accelerator Small Business Development Centre | 2018/2019 Annual Report | 3

Dear Citizens of The Bahamas:

It has been one year since I sat with twoother Bahamian millionaires in a “fireside

chat” at University of The Bahamas toofficially launch the Access AcceleratorSmall Business Development Centre. Oneyear since we determined that we wantedto create a culture of entrepreneurship thatsupports small businesses and aspiringbusiness owners. One year since mygovernment made good on its promise tocreate a space for small businesses tothrive, and we have delivered.

2 | Access Accelerator Small Business Development Centre | 2018/2019 Annual Report

message from thedeputy prime minister

What the Access AcceleratorSBDC allows businesses todo is going to transform oureconomy for the better.

“”

Access Accelerator Small Business Development Centre | 2018/2019 Annual Report | 54 | Access Accelerator Small Business Development Centre | 2018/2019 Annual Report

message from the chairman

As Chairman of the Board of Directorsfor the Access Accelerator Small

Business Development Centre, it has beena pleasure to support the ExecutiveDirector and her hardworking team in theirefforts to grow and expand the Acceleratorfrom a small team of imaginers to a teamof 30, with advisors dedicated to clientsacross the length and breadth of TheBahamas. I thank you as a nation forallowing us the opportunity to helpentrepreneurs thrive.

I’ve had the chance to act as the SBDC’sleading representative in various forumsacross the country and around the world aswe’ve sought partnerships to help usfurther develop. Meeting you in Abaco,Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama andOver-the-Hill at our events has confirmedfor me what I knew the moment I agreed totake on this role: that The Bahamas is filledwith brilliant, talented, and innovativepeople who rise to the occasion once theyare given access to opportunities.

At every board meeting, my colleagues andI take time to consider our successes andto work on areas where we can improve.Each one of us holds the programme inhigh regard, and every member of theboard has made a concerted effort to usetheir expertise, resources and networks toensure that we are making decisions thatwill allow this programme to thrive. We arepleased to have created partnerships with

well-established financial institutions likeRBC, Scotiabank, Bahamas DevelopmentBank, and the Bahamas EntrepreneurialVenture Fund. We are excited about theopportunity to give Crown land access toour clients through our partnership withthe Bahamas Agricultural and IndustrialCorporation. We look forward to seeing ourclient’s products and services play anintegral part in the new developments onthe horizon through our relationships withGlobal Ports Ltd., Carnival Cruise Lines,Disney Cruise Lines and Royal CaribbeanCruise Lines.

As a Certified Public Accountant, I valuenumbers. The number “One” is the first ofall numbers and represents a beginningfrom which all other numbers spring forth.Consider then, that even though wecelebrate all that we’ve accomplished inour first year alone, we have only justbegun. We remain strong, determined andunwavering as we take our clients’ dreamsand ideas and turn them into reality. TheSBDC will continue to be an aggressiveinstitute for creating and producing thebest small businesses in this country.

Sincerely,

Geoff Andrews, ChairmanAccess Accelerator Small BusinessDevelopment Centre

message from the chairman

Dear Citizens of The Bahamas:

2018/2019, our first year in operation,was a year of strong performance

for the Access Accelerator. Today we canboast of having helped seventeenentrepreneurs to take their dreams andbusinesses to the next level with overB$1 million dollars in funding secured.The by-product of this funding is anestimated economic impact of B$2.2million dollars. We’ve served over 500Bahamians in our entrepreneurshiptraining classes across the nation, andwe look forward to serving the other4,000 plus individuals who havesigned up for our assistance. Theseresults are directly correlated tostrong operational execution anddecisive actions to adjust tochanges and feedback as theyemerged from you, our clients.

The Bahamas is filled withbrilliant, talented, andinnovative people who rise tothe occasion once they aregiven access to opportunities.

“

”

In the coming year, we will expand ourOver-the-Hill programme into Family

Island communities to serve those islandseven better. Overall, our objective is tomake the SBDC sustainable bothoperationally and financially.

On the operational front, we are aiming tocreate and refine the systems of the SBDC.In the next five to seven years, we wouldlike to see around 5,000 clients assisted. Tosee that happen we must develop systemsthat not only produce good businesses andbusiness plans but also keep partnershipstogether, providing additional value andbenefits to our clients. The systems willinclude self-audits and external audits. Weare looking forward to having ourcounterparts from other countries come inand scrutinise what we are doing and giveus their best advice on how to better servemicro-, small- and medium-sizedenterprises (MSMEs).

Financially, the SBDC will becomesustainable by introducing our Fintechplatform which will roll out in the comingyear. The Fintech platform will allow us toreduce dependency on one funding source,allowing for diversification in fundingproviders. Ultimately, we want to move to a place where we have establishedsustainable private sector solutions forfunding that support both clients and the organisation.

With year one behind us, we press forwardwith our mission of ensuring MSMEsreceive the help and access required to give back to our communities!

Sincerely,

Davinia Grant, Executive ChairmanAccess Accelerator Small BusinessDevelopment Centre

message from the executive chairman


Dear Bahamas:

The Access Accelerator Small BusinessDevelopment Centre (SBDC) is a new

organisation that is transforming lives throughsmall businesses. The Bahamas’ small businesssector makes up about 2.4 million dollars of theeconomy. Yet, we appreciate that given theright tools and guidance thesebusinesses can have an evengreater impact. In the lastyear, this organisation hashelped such businesses togrow by distributing B$1million dollars in funds andwe are looking forward todistributing even morefunds to small businesseswithin the next year.


message from the executive chairman

This organisation has helpedbusinesses to grow bydistributing B$1 milliondollars in funds...

“”

The Access Accelerator hasthree key partners: theGovernment of The Bahamas,University of The Bahamas(UB) and the BahamasChamber of Commerce andEmployers Confederation(BCCEC) — and each can beleveraged as required for thebenefit of our clients.

who are we?


We will support the evolutionof Micro-, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) inThe Bahamas, maximise thecreation of economic impactthrough strategic partnerships,and—by equipping andempowering MSMEs—increase the ability of oursector to provide employment,create wealth and drivedevelopment of a robust andresilient economy.

our mission

We are a unique quasi-independentagency dedicated to providing guid-ance to Bahamian entrepreneursduring their journey from inceptionto financing, and to providing men-torship and handholding even afternew businesses have started operat-ing. Traditionally, local programmesprovided entrepreneurship training,but access to capital for newbusinesses has been nearly impossi-ble to secure. On the other side,there have been programmes thatoffered financing, but the mentor-ship was non-existent. The AccessAccelerator takes an holisticapproach that considers the fullrange of needs that Bahamianentrepreneurs have.

what are we?

particularly within our more vulnerablecommunities. And the steadily increasingnumber of Bahamian entrepreneurs—those in business and those who want tobe in business—who sign up for ourservices tells us the message is resonating:Bahamians are getting into business, andsucceeding!

Take the UB student we helped obtainfunding for his electric rental car company:the Access Accelerator helped Drive GreenRentals field two offers for access tocapital from local banks in addition to grantand equity funding for a total capitalstructure of $200,000. Benjamin Davis, CEO and Founder of Drive Green Rentals,initially became a client of the AccessAccelerator to access government grants,but after refining and sharpening hisbusiness plan together with his SBDCAdvisor, Phyllice Bethel, Davis was able toaccess grant, funding, equity and loancapital opportunities from two significantfinancial institutions for his start-upbusiness.

Said Davis, “It’s definitely a proud moment,and I am very excited. The dreams that Ihave inside of my head, I will love to seethem come to fruition with now havingaccess to the funding…That’s the mostexciting part of it, being able to turn thesedreams into reality.”

He added, “The biggest lesson I’ve learnedfrom the SBDC is the strength and thevalue of having a team.”

It was that team that helped Davis manifesthis dream: business advisory and advocacyservices provided by the AccessAccelerator, in the form of day-to-dayadvisory interactions and the SBDC’spartnership with the financial institutions,together with the strength of his idea,made negotiations with the bankssuccessful.

The power of the Access Accelerator SBDCis that those in business already canbenefit from the services it offers as readilyas those yet to start their entrepreneurialjourney. Take Shiver, a local sorbet and ice-cream brand that the SBDC helped accessover $100,000 dollars in investments.Founders and CEOs of the company,

a culture of entrepreneurship & innovation


Foremost among the pillars of the Micro,Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise

(MSME) Policy of the Government of TheBahamas are commitments to improve theenabling business environment for smallbusiness to flourish, increase directfinancing to the MSME sector and foster aculture of entrepreneurship andinnovation. The Access Accelerator SmallBusiness Development Centre (SBDC)certainly lived up to these commitmentsand more in its first year of operation, withmore than 6,600 hours invested in advisoryservices for more than 1,400 clients. Thatlevel of investment and energy resulted in

more than $1 million in funding pumpedinto the MSME sector through the work ofthe Access Accelerator.

That’s impact.

The overarching theme of SBDC messagingis that Bahamians can and should get intobusiness and succeed. The MSME sector isthe backbone of the Bahamian economy,and when MSMEs succeed, the communitybenefits. Over the course of the first yearof our existence, since we launched inSeptember 2018, we have beenmissionaries of entrepreneurship,



Entrepreneurial Venture Fund, $30,000 inequity investment, $15,000 from theBahamas Development Fund and an$18,000 SBDC grant, making it the largestinvestment in the Family Islands throughthe SBDC in our first year.

The ECA story is particularly important forthe Access Accelerator, because thefunding is an investment in improving TheBahamas’ human capital.

Executive Director Davinia Blair said at the time, “This financing is a doubleinvestment. The funding will go far in grow-ing the school but also, the knowledge,

skills and experiences of Bahamians whowill impact the country’s future. If Bahami-ans are going to own more opportunities,they have to be educated, and this is adirect investment into the human capital ofThe Bahamas.”

SBDC reaches $1 million in disbursementsUltimately, however rich the stories are, the real measure of our success at theAccess Accelerator is our ability to getBahamian small businesses access tofunding, with all that entails. In our firstyear, we were able to help Bahamian



Melissa Darville and Elvis Percentie,pointed out that the funding was exciting,but their motivation for becoming clientswas for help with their businessdocuments: they were initially unawarethat the centre had a funding component!

“We didn’t even know that the SBDCoffered and assisted with funding. We justneeded help with our paperwork, so whenit was time for us to go to the bank, wewould be ready,” said Percentie. “Theysurpassed our expectations, and we’re stillflabbergasted by the amount of work thatthey put into assisting our company.”

Darville and Percentie assert that workingwith the team at the SBDC was “invaluable,”

noting that the access to expert account-ants and experts in business, the amountof work they put in, local MSMEs wouldnever be able to afford.

And in our first year, the culture ofentrepreneurship and innovation wasevident in the Family Islands, as well. Our team was delighted when we helpedonly the second private school to exist onthe island of Exuma successfully access$163,000 in investment funding.

Exuma Christian Academy (ECA) wasfounded in 2018 by Keniqua Burrows toexpand educational opportunities on theisland of Exuma. The school received$100,000 from the Bahamas




Board of DirectorsOur Board of Directors was established to govern the policy direction of the Centre, providenational accountability and ensure that the objectives of the Seven Pillars of MSME Developmentapproved by Cabinet are achieved. The Board consists of a total of 13 persons from a broadtransection of business-related areas inclusive of legal, accounting/audit, finance, internationaltrade, marketing, and economics. The Government appoints a total of nine persons inclusive ofthe Chairman and Executive Director, the University of The Bahamas appoints two persons andthe Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation appoints two persons.

The Access Accelerator Board of Directors, chaired by Geoffrey Andrews and Deputy Chair DrOlivia Saunders, includes Merrit Storr, Ellison Delva, Clifford Johnson, Hank Ferguson, TyrinaNeely, Gina McKenzie, Remelda Moxey, Kristie Powell, Christopher Sawyer and Pedro Rolle.Each of these board members are respected professionals in various areas related to businessdevelopment.

MSMEs access over B$1 million in funding.Seventeen companies representing a cross-section of Bahamian industry receivedfinancial backing with our assistance.

That is to say, through our grantcommittee, bank loans, and investmentsfrom the Bahamas Entrepreneurial VentureFund, a total of $1,073,479 was directlyinvested into Bahamian small businesses.

The Hon. K. Peter Turnquest, Deputy PrimeMinister of The Bahamas and Minister ofFinance, called the funding of thesebusinesses evidence that Bahamians cantake control and blaze their own trail.

“When you see a gem come along that isinterested in self-development and creatingopportunities, it makes us all as leadersvery proud. It says that all is not lost, andthat we as Bahamians have theopportunity to create our opportunities. Tocut a new path and to take more control ofour economic circumstances.”

Our Executive Director stressed theimportance of the million-dollar milestone.

“Having reached over $1 million indisbursed funds is evidence that theorganization is indeed at work and issuccessfully fulfilling its mandate,” saidBlair. “Every time a company cansuccessfully obtain financial backing, wesee it as not only a direct investment intotheir dreams but also into The Bahamas.”

Blair continued, “The success of smallbusinesses is important for a strong andsustainable economy. The more we caneducate entrepreneurs and give them anopportunity to access necessary capital, themore we are strengthening The Bahamas.”

This harks back to our mandate from thestart: “to advocate for and support theevolution of MSMEs in The Bahamas,maximise the creation of economic impactthrough strategic partnerships, and—byequipping and empowering MSMEs—increase the ability of our sector to provideemployment, create wealth and drivedevelopment of a robust and resilienteconomy.” s



Executive DirectorWhen the Government announced that Davinia L. Blair had beenappointed Executive Director (ED) of the Small BusinessDevelopment Centre (SBDC), it was hailed as a signal of thegovernment’s commitment to building and supporting theinstitutional framework and the national support programme forMSMEs. In her first year as Founding Executive Director, Blairworked tirelessly to assist in developing and carrying forward thevision for economic and entrepreneurial development forBahamians.

our management: first class top brass

Since its launch in September 2018, the Access Accelerator Small BusinessDevelopment Centre (SBDC) has beenunflagging in assisting entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs with businesscreation, business development, andaccess to capital investments across The Bahamas. As an advocate for andsupporter of the evolution of BahamianMicro-, Small- and Medium-sizedEnterprises, we are dedicated to providingexpert business advisory services andentrepreneurial training programmes tosupport emerging and existing businessowners.

Over the past nine months, the SBDC hasassisted a total of 4,013 clients. Of the total4,013 clients, 2,860 clients (71%) wereclassified as Start-up businesses and 1,153(29%) as Existing businesses. Clients whocame with ideas and had not yet startedtheir business and clients who had beenoperating a business for less than one yearwere classified as Start-up. Clients who hadbeen in operation for more than one yearwere classified as Existing (Figure 1).


our management: first class top brass

Introduction: Adding Value, Changing The Paradigm

The SBDC offers a no-cost trainingprogramme designed to assist extant andaspiring entrepreneurs throughout TheBahamas. Our Entrepreneurial TrainingProgramme (ETP) equips the SBDC’s clientswith the exposure to generate truly

innovative ideas and the skills and tools toturn those innovative ideas into validbusiness models. Our instructors, guestspeakers, and coaches from our roster oftrainers and advisors deliver courses thatserve those considering starting a business,

Quantitative Performance Measures – Productivity

the economic impact of 2018 / 2019

Senior Business Development Specialist Our Senior Business Development Specialist is Nicholas Higgs.Higgs is tasked with providing business development advisoryservices to MSMEs and assisting the Executive Director withoverall operation of the programme. Higgs conducts clientcounselling, assists in the development and implementation oftraining events and workshops, promotes Access Acceleratorservices, networks with community organizations involved insmall business and economic development, and focuses onfinancing and business plan refinement.

Lead TrainerOur enthusiastic Lead Trainer is Sherrell Storr. A passionateadvocate and dedicated trainer, Sherrell has perfected the abilityto speak with our clients in terms they understand and clearlyconveys important business concepts in ways that do notintimidate, but educate. Sherrell is an important asset to theAccess Accelerator team and we are thrilled to have her workingalongside with us.

owner. Any micro-, small- and medium-sized business entity organized for profit,permissible to operate within the laws ofThe Bahamas with a place of businesslocated in The Bahamas and whichoperates primarily within The Bahamas ormakes a significant contribution to the localeconomy through payment of taxes or useof made-in-The Bahamas products or

services, materials or labour is eligible to receive assistance from the SBDC. TheSBDC’s advisors worked one-on-one with1,044 clients, providing no-cost confidentialbusiness advising. The SBDC’s advisorshave spent approximately 6,654 hoursadvising, counselling, and mentoringclients, approximately 50% of which were done Face-to-Face (Figure 3).



owners of existing businesses struggling toget a handle on all the details, and thosewith successful companies that want togrow. The ETP is a two-week course thatdelivers a structured programme ofknowledge, information, or experience on abusiness-related subject that improves theknowledge and skills of pre-venture and

existing MSMEs. A total of 25 ETP trainingsessions were held in the fiscal yearsumming up to a total of 9,096 traininghours, of which 758 clients. The SBDC’straining programmes have been offered ona number of islands in the past year in aneffort to cater to SBDC’s clients residingoutside of the capital (Figure 2).



In addition to the ETP, the SBDC offers aspecial training programme for the Over-the-Hill community. This programme givesthe Over-the-Hill residents access to moreopportunities for economic development.The Over-the-Hill programme is an eight-week course designed to improve the skillsand knowledge of existing and prospective

small business owners and managersresiding or operating businesses in thatarea. The first cohort of this programmehad 18 graduates who were awarded grant funding, totalling $45,000. Training hours for this programmeamounted to 1,152 hours.

Our enthusiastic and exceptionallyqualified cadre of Business Advisors areresponsible for counselling our clients onall aspects of small business operationsincluding: management, financing,accounting, operations, inventorymanagement and pricing, imports,international trade, and even such

specializations as marketing andpersonnel. The SBDC’s advisory servicesinvolve a process of in-depth, substantive,two-way communication between the client and advisor pertaining to starting,managing or growing a small business. The goal of SBDC advising is to increase themanagement capability of the business

Business Advisory Services

The SBDC Bahamas network defines Direct Service Hours (DSH) as the total amount of timeSBDC spends on advising and training services.

Direct Service Hours

The SBDC’s DSH are 16,902 hours whichequates to 59% of time that full-timeemployees (FTEs) spend delivering advisoryand training services. FTEs are thedirectors, business advisors, trainingcoordinators, and part-time professionalemployees that are working at SBDC. Non-

professional staff including interns,secretarial and administrative staff doesnot count as FTEs. The SBDC has a total of 24 FTEs, of which include one Director,one Senior Business Analyst, three SeniorAdvisors, and 18 part-time Advisors.

Through the SBDC’s services, 75% ofclients reported that they were able toexpand their business by entering newmarkets, offering new services andproducts, and adding second locations.Additionally, 50% of clients reportedthey were able to formalize their busi-

ness operations either by obtaining abusiness license, updating business li-censes, or incorporating their company.According to the survey, the SBDC’s serv-ices assisted in the creation of 21 newjobs and retained a total of 25 jobs. s




The SBDC, while not a direct provider ofcapital, provides our clients access to arange of funding opportunities. The SBDCworks with a number of financinginstitutions to build the best fundingpackage for each unique client offeringthree types of funding: grants, loans, andequity. The SBDC had an agreement withits various financing partners to guaranteethe loans of its clients, which has resultedin high approval rates for loans.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Scotiabank(BNS) have partnered with us to guarantee75% of client loans, and we have arranged

a 50% loan guarantee at the BahamasDevelopment Bank (BDB). We have alsopartnered with the Bahamas Entrepreneur-ial Venture Fund to provide access to loanswhich are guaranteed at 75%, as well asequity funding to clients. Additionally,through our collaboration with the Govern-ment of The Bahamas, the SBDC is able tooffer grants to our clients. Through our various funding avenues the SBDC hasbeen able to provide our clients with access to approximately B$1 million infunding approvals: B$130,000 from equityfunding, B$742,936 from loan funding, andB$182,268 from grant funding (Figure 4).

Access to Capital

The Economic Impact survey is adminis-tered once per annum to capture the im-pact generated by the assistance of theSBDC. This survey was distributed to asample of 17 clients, all of whom receivedfunding in the last fiscal year. Of this total,

16 clients were responsive. The resultsfrom these 16 funded clients provided in-formation on organizational performance,business status, amount of capital ac-cessed, job creation, job retention, andbusiness expansion.

Quantitative Performance Measures –Economic Impact Survey Results

discussion with two Bahamianentrepreneurs about their journey throughthe Bahamian business sector, thechallenges they faced and the solutionsthey employed to achieve the success forwhich they are now celebrated. Educationmogul Lisa McCartney, Director of WindsorHigh School at Albany, and ChristianSawyer, Managing Director and principalowner of Sunryse InformationManagement—touted as The Bahamas’first mobile document destruction andinformation management servicescompany—were joined on the panel byTurnquest for what was a powerfuldiscussion on entrepreneurship in TheBahamas. The chat was streamed live andthe panel fielded questions from both theaudience online and in person.

PM Opens The DoorThe Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dr. HubertMinnis officially launched the AccessAccelerator with a ribbon cutting and brief

ceremony on Thursday, September 20th atthe Gladstone Freight Terminal, GladstoneRoad. In keeping with the government’spromise to economically empower moreBahamians, the government allocated over$25 million to support micro–small andmedium-sized businesses through theSBDC. The SBDC is the product of atripartite arrangement between theGovernment, through the Ministry ofFinance, University of The Bahamas (UB)and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerceand Employer’s Confederation (BCCEC).

RBC Pitch NightPitch Night provides entrepreneurs withinthe SBDC community an opportunity toshare their business idea, plans for scalingup and to pitch at investors for funding totake their projects to the next level. Thefirst Pitch Night was held on December 8th,2018. Since then, through a partnershipwith RBC, Pitch Night has been rebranded

2018 / 2019: the story (year in review)


Over-the-Hill BusinessDocuseriesOn September 18th, the Access Acceleratorbegan its launch week with a docuseriestitled “Small Business, Big Stories” incollaboration with the Heritage Partners.These short documentaries captured theessence of entrepreneurs through the eyesof some of the longest standing smallbusinessmen and women in the country.Iconic businesses like Mortimer’s CandyKitchen were featured.

Millionaire Fireside ChatOn Wednesday, September 19, at 7:00pmat the University of The BahamasPerforming Arts Centre (PAC), the SBDC hasarranged an exciting programme. DeputyPrime Minister and Minister of Finance, theHon. K. Peter Turnquest led the charge atour Millionaire Fireside Chat by giving aspeech entitled, “The Bahamian Economy,Reimagined.” Following the Deputy PrimeMinister’s presentation, talk show hostHubert Edwards moderated a panel


At the Access Accelerator we believe that Bahamians can and should get into business and succeed.The Access Accelerator was designed specifically to enhance business and development supportfor Bahamian MSMEs through innovative programmes. Our goals include provision of specificsupport for entrepreneurship and MSME development for Bahamian youth, women and othermarginalized groups. Through the efforts of the Access Accelerator, we seek to foster a culture ofentrepreneurship and innovation. The events held from September 2018-–June 30th, 2019 reinforceour commitment to our core values.

business (EODB) matters for the residents of West Grand Bahama on Friday, March 8th.

UB North Pitch NightThe Access Accelerator team with partnersfrom University of The Bahamas NorthernCampus hosted a pitch night on April 4th.The first Access Accelerator Pitch Night inGrand Bahama allowed students theopportunity to share their business planswith the university community. Six UBstudents presented. Walking away with thegrand prize of a $10,000 grant was Founderand CEO of Keeping It Clean, TarenteeLaing. Hilary Huyler, founder and CEO ofHappy Hour Tours, placed second andreceived a $5,000 grant. All students whohave gone through the process will beencouraged to stay connected to theentrepreneur community, but the winnerswere put in to our entrepreneurshipclasses, assigned advisors, and have theirbusiness plans in Growth Wheel.

Southern Town HallAfter a series of successful town hallmeetings throughout the islands of TheBahamas, the Access Accelerator SmallBusiness Development Centre held its firsttown hall meeting in New Providence onApril 18th at the Myles E. Munroe DiplomatCentre on Carmichael Road. Over 200people attended the Town Hall createdspecifically for South Beach, Carmichael,Pinewood, Southern Shores, Golden Gates,Golden Isles, Tall Pines, Bamboo Town and

Garden Hills residents. Speaking toattendees were Davinia Blair, ExecutiveDirector of the SBDC; Hon. PeterTurnquest, Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Finance; Jeffery Beckles,President of The Bahamas Chamber ofCommerce; Dr. Olivia Saunders, DeputyChairwoman of the SBDC Board ofDirectors and Melissa Darville and ElvisPercentie, CEOs and Founders of ShiverBahamas. Bahamas Institute of ChartedAccountants (BICA) Council memberPertino Albury was also present and sharedthe role BICA would be playing in assistingclients of the SBDC in developing financialstatements. As a result of this Town Hall,several of our clients have been able tobuild their companies financial statementsthrough the BICA partnership.

International Women’s day-WIG MeetingModerated by Associate Director ofAdvancement Anastarcia Palacious, theInternational Women’s Day panel featuredDirector Tyrina Neely, Executive DirectorDavinia Blair, Advisor Tamarind Issacs andShiver co-owner Melissa Darville. Prior tothe panel discussion, the IDB presented onopportunities for funding for smallbusinesses. The panel shared more onfunding initiatives of the SBDC but alsoexplored the way women can overcomechallenges in business. The panel was held for the Women Investors Group, a group organized as a result of efforts by the U.S. Embassy.



RBC Pitch Night. The core of the eventremains the same, but RBC businessbankers are now in the audience and helpwith providing valuable insights forbusinesses to grow. RBC Pitch Nights areheld at Venture Coworking and aremoderated by Shift the Culture, a localorganization that has a longstandinghistory of contributing to Start-Ups.

SBDC Inaugural ChristmasParty & Vendor ShowcaseThe Access Accelerator’s inauguralChristmas party was held at the Centre’sheadquarters at the Gladstone FreightTerminal on December 18th, 2019.Hundreds of Access Accelerator clientscame together to celebrate with boardmembers, financing partners and themembers of the media. A special feature ofthe evening was the client showcase, withgoods and services from over 40 clients ondisplay. The Christmas party also saw thefirst set of SBDC clients recommended forfunding. Seven of our clients who hadbegun work with the Accelerator onSeptember 24th were officiallyrecommended for funding by the DeputyPrime Minister. Those companies includedDrive Green Rentals, a rental car agencycombining zero-emission eco-friendly carrentals with value-added features like in-car WiFi and hotel partnerships; ExumaChristian Academy, a K-12 internationalChristian private school located in a mixed-use neighbourhood four miles west ofGeorgetown, Exuma; Shiver Premium Ice

Cream, a frozen dessert manufacturingcompany; and Vue A/V, a provider ofaudio/visual services.

GB LaunchOver the course of two weekends, theleadership team of the Access Acceleratortravelled the length and breadth of GrandBahama to ensure that the country’ssecond strongest local economy was awareof the opportunities available to themthrough the SBDC. The SBDC officiallylaunched in Freeport at the Bishop MichaelEldon School Auditorium on January 31,2019. Some 470 people attended the initiallaunch and several others joined DeputyPrime Minister K. Peter Turnquest andExecutive Director Davinia Blair at a TownHall in East Grand Bahama on February 1st.Member of Parliament for West End andBimini Pakeisha Parker joined them in EightMile Rock for another Town Hall meeting todiscuss the SBDC and other ease of doing



The Access Accelerator Small BusinessDevelopment Centre is committed tolasting, sustained and profound impact,particularly on the development of smallbusiness in The Bahamas. Small business is the vast majority of business in TheBahamas, and our commitment to theentrepreneurs—and those who would beentrepreneurs—who make small businessthrive in our country is uncompromising,unyielding and unbreakable. In our secondyear, we intend to deepen our impact onour community, and redouble our effortsto see the lot of small business improve inThe Bahamas.

The main goals of the Access AcceleratorSBDC continue to be: (1) Improving theenvironment to enable small business toflourish; (2) Increasing direct financing toMSMEs; (3) Creation and promotion of

innovative programmes to support MSMEsand (4) Fostering a culture ofentrepreneurship and innovation, with aparticular focus on marginalized groups.

We have seen the first year of ourexistence come and go, and with clearresults that confirm the proposition thatled to our creation: Bahamians want to beentrepreneurs! Given the opportunity, theywill try, and given access, they will succeed!We focused on our five-pronged valueproposition this past year. We offerBusiness Advisory Services, Training &Entrepreneurial Programming, Mentorship& Incubation, Advocacy and Access toCapital. As we contemplate the next year,we consider the lessons we have learned:we commit ourselves to addressing thefollowing.


GB Carnival Cruise Port On Wednesday, April 3rd, there wereseveral meetings held for personsinterested in offering services inconstruction, retail and food and beveragefor the Grand Bahama Port Development.Our growing partnership with Carnival andthe Grand Bahama Port Authority allowedus to offer our client database first accessto those meetings.

Eleuthera Carnival Meetings From May 1–3rd, Chairman of the BoardGeoff Andrews and Executive DirectorDavinia Blair joined key personnel fromDisney Cruise lines in a series of meetingswith clients to discuss potentialopportunities for participation in theDisney Lighthouse Point experience.

Over-the-Hill LaunchThe Small Business Development Centrelaunched its Over-the-Hill programme atthe Edmund Moxey Cultural Centre on

Wednesday, May 9th providing a centrallocation for budding inner cityentrepreneurs seeking to access theprogramme’s training and financingservices. The educational component ofthe program was specifically designed forOver-the-Hill residents who received $2,500grants following their successfulcompletion of the programme. PrimeMinister Rt. Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnislaunched the initiative with a generousdonation of $100,000 from businessmanMark Holowesko.

SBDC CelebrationOn May 20, the Access Accelerator held acelebration in honour of 17 clients that hadrecently been approved for funding. Eachof the clients was interviewed for theirstories to be shared on social media andwith the press. Members of the board andthe SBDC staff were also present tocelebrate their success. s



vision for 2019 / 2020

appendix i


There is a clear need for more SmallBusiness advocacy. For example, under theMSME Act there is more work to be done toconsider exemptions, group insurance forcertain industries and using technology tobuild your business.

There is an overall need to strengthen andimprove the efficiency of the work of theSBDC and the upcoming grant from theInter-American Development bank (IDB)will help us do that. The project looks toprovide institutional strengthening to SBDC through a technical cooperationgrant that will support activities and help to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem.There will be a credit enhancement facilitythat we expect will improve access tofinancing and through which we plan toimplement a digital platform to facilitatefinancial transactions.

The question has been posed: is the SBDC necessary? The answer is clear: the resounding success of our first yearconfirms the absolute necessity of theAccess Accelerator Small BusinessDevelopment Centre at this time in the life of our economy. The community has accepted us with open arms, and we embrace our community in turn. The journey continues. s


vision for 2019 / 2020

Tier 1 299

Tier 2 318

Tier 3 211

Family Islands 216

Total 1044

Total Number of Advising Clients

Face to Face 3207.92

Review 1959.33

Phone Call 789.37

Workshop 358.93

Video Call 139.63

Client Visit 110.17

Email 80.07

Referral 8.00

Webinar 1.50

Grand Total 6654.92

Total Advising Hours (Contact + Prep + Travel)

GOAL ACTUAL

ETP 18 25

Over-the-Hill 1 1

Total 19 26

Number of Training Programmes

Number of Training Programme Attendees

GOAL ACTUAL

Abaco 0 21

Eleuthera 0 48

Exuma 0 41

Grand Bahama 0 199

Long Island 0 18

New Providence 270 431

Total 270 758

Measurement selection and definition

Advising: confidential, substantive,individual advice, guidance or instructionthat is provided to both current andprospective business owners.

Advising hours: total number of advisinghours delivered to clients, that includes thesum of contact, preparation and travel timedelivered to SBDC clients (productivitymeasure).

Attendees: in order to count as a trainingprogram attendee, all participants mustsign-in or initial a SBDC training programattendance form and have graduated.

Business expansion: an existing client thathas expanded or improved existingbusiness operations, due to SBDC advisingand training assistance.

Business formalization: informal businessclients that have formalized businessoperations and registered with theDepartment of Inland Revenue forbusiness license, due to SBDC advising andtraining assistance.

Business start: start-up entrepreneurclients that have started businessoperations and registered with theRegistrar of Companies or Department ofInland Revenue, due to SBDC advising andtraining assistance.

Capital infusion: Loans, grants and equityinvestments obtained for start-up, andexisting business clients, due to havingreceived SBDC Bahamas advising andtraining assistance.

Client: a start-up, informal business andestablished business that have registeredwith the SBDC.

Increased sales: An incremental increasein sales for start-up, informal and existingbusiness clients due to having receivedSBDC advising and training assistance.

Jobs created: start-up, informal andexisting business clients that have creatednew and full-time, part-time, temporaryand seasonal jobs located in The Bahamas,due to the SBDC advising and trainingassistance.

Jobs retained: start-up, and existingbusiness clients that have retained orsaved full-time, part-time, temporary andseasonal jobs located in The Bahamas, dueto SBDC advising and training assistance.

Training: an activity or event in which aSBDC Bahamas professional or a guestspeaker delivers a structured program ofknowledge, information or experience on abusiness-related subject that improves theknowledge and skills of pre-venture andexisting MSMEs.

appendix ii


appendix i

ACTUAL

Full-time 12

Part-time 7

Temporary 2

Seasonal 0

Total 21

Total Number of New Jobs Created

ACTUAL

Full-time 22

Part-time 3

Temporary 0

Seasonal 0

Total 25

Total Number of New Jobs Retained

ACTUAL

Loans $742,936.00

Grants $182,268.00

Equity $130,000.00

Total $1,055,204.00

Total Amount of Capital Infusions (BSD$)


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