Grants Totalling $160m Disbursed under SDC’s Local Economic Development Support Programme

Over 600 local economic initiatives (LEIs) and business owners (own account workers) have benefitted from grant funding totalling $160 million under the Local Economic Development Support Programme (LEDSP) since 2017.

Director of Local Economic Development and Community Projects at the Social Development Commission (SDC), Avril Ranger, tells JIS News that the funds have been used by the recipients to improve their business operations.

She explains that there are two types of grant facilities offered under the LEDSP. These are the SDC Local Economic Development (LED) Grant and the Special Entrepreneurship Grant.

“To access the SDC LED grant, we do have criteria. A call for grant proposal is normally issued via our website, along with the print media. One of the key things for this grant is that our local economic initiatives are working or affiliated with governance structures in their particular community… meaning the Community Development Committee (CDC),” the Director states.

“The idea here is that our LEIs are linked to and encouraged to give back to their communities. The support given to communities by the small business operator spans from capacity building to financial support.” she adds.

Ms. Ranger says through the SDC LED Grant, LEIs can access up to $250,000, which can be used to assist in purchasing equipment to enhance business operations.

“Also, the grant can be used to engage in marketing opportunities, ascertaining business registration, purchasing protective gear, raw materials, equipment, and business development apparatus,” she further informs.

For the Special Entrepreneurship Grant, Ms. Ranger explains that business owners are identified at the community level for this facility, adding that the provision can be used to procure small equipment and materials that can enhance the operations of enterprises.

“They can access… $60,000 to $80,000 for this grant. To further enhance this effort, the Commission offers training opportunities to these persons in subject areas such as customer service and bookkeeping. Importantly, we at the SDC assist them to complete the grant application form as part of our support service,” she states.

“This Special Entrepreneurship Grant offer has been expanding since its inception in 2022, because there are quite a few emerging small business operators that need or require business development support services, and we are happy that this gap was identified and we are addressing same. So, we continue to build on the LEDSP as it relates to the grant facilities annually,” the Director adds.

Meanwhile, Ms. Ranger says the SDC receives significant support in executing the Local Economic Development Support Programme islandwide.

Among the partners are the Ministries of Local Government and Community Development, and Industry, Investment and Commerce; Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ); Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ); Scientific Research Council (SRC); National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA); HEART/NSTA Trust; Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), and Municipal Corporations.

“These stakeholders have assisted in relation to ensuring that [persons engaged in] LEIs are trained and certified as business operators, [and] improving in terms of their quality assurance and regulatory compliance. Furthermore, they assist with research and development, and providing additional marketing, promotional and networking opportunities,” Ms. Ranger states.

For fiscal year 2024/25, the SDC intends to identify 769 additional Special Entrepreneurship Grant beneficiaries.

“We also aim to expand our efforts as it relates to attending and participating in national business opportunities events, for example the upcoming Denbigh Agricultural Show, and Sligoville ‘Emancifest’,” the Director informs.

Ms. Ranger says the SDC intends to strengthen working relations with Municipal Corporations in a bid to identify new spaces islandwide to establish additional economic villages.

“We are actively working in the parishes of Portland and St. Mary to identify two new spaces. So far, we have shortlisted and are looking at the townships of Port Antonio and Highgate to have these new economic villages established,” she further shares.

Ms. Ranger advises that economic villages have already been established in five locations.

These, she says, are Discovery Bay in St. Ann; Falmouth, Trelawny; Cecil Charlton Park in Mandeville, Manchester; Cobble Stone Area at the Montego Bay Civic Centre in St. James, and the SDC Spanish Town, St. Catherine office, adding that “we intend to improve our activity levels at these locations.”

Ms. Ranger also informs of plans to revise and update the SDC’s e-catalogue, which features several local economic initiatives.

“We’ll be advancing efforts this year to update our e-catalogue and have it uploaded to our website. We will continue our efforts to build the capacities of these grassroots businesses, by offering training opportunities,” she states.

The SDC will also be promoting the LEDSP extensively islandwide with the aim of getting more persons on board, so that they can access business development support services.

“Overall, the thrust of the SDC’s LEDSP and its strategies, inclusive of the SDC LED Grant and the Special Entrepreneurship Grant, are focused on the advancement of the country’s economy through work done to build viable grassroots-based businesses,” Ms. Ranger points out.