SDC Strengthens Grassroots Economic Growth Through Strategic Partnerships

The Social Development Commission (SDC) continues to drive economic growth at the community level through strong partnerships with key ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Director, Local Economic Development at SDC, Avril Ranger, tells JIS News that partnerships are essential to the success of its Local Economic Development Support Programme (LEDSP).

The LEDSP, now in its 10th year, is focused on supporting grassroots businesses, otherwise called Local Economic Initiatives (LEIs).

She informs that one of its key partners is the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), in particular, the Community Renewal Programme and the National Poverty Reduction Programme.

“They provide technical assistance and feedback to us at the SDC as it relates to developing indicators and methodologies on how to collect and track our data. They have [also] provided support in the areas of capacity-building for LEIs, sponsoring major interventions. We are talking about over 150 LEIs benefiting across the island from residential type training in financial literacy and grant proposal writing,” says Ms. Ranger.

She notes that a new cohort of 30 LEIs recently participated in a grant proposals development training held in Montego Bay.

“One of the upshots of this partnership is that you actually produce an output. As part of the training, each LEI is required to complete and submit a proposal to a grant facility,” Ms. Ranger explains.

In addition to the PIOJ, the SDC also collaborates with the HEART/NSTA Trust, Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ), Scientific Research Council, Bureau of Standards Jamaica and the Municipal Corporations to support LEIs.

Ms. Ranger states that the support from HEART/NSTA Trust has been very beneficial to the SDC, noting that the partnership has helped to strengthen the internal capacities of the Local Economic Department.

“We can’t thank them enough; we are learning a lot from the partnership. We would have garnered best practice from our engagement with the HEART/NSTA Trust, which includes the utilisation of a more user-friendly template for the business plan development,” Ms. Ranger shares.

She also affirms that the SDC is now exploring how they can utilise that template in its standard operating procedures moving forward.

Ms. Ranger further points out that the partnership with the COJ has also yielded great success, as 268 of the 390 LEIs being served have formalised their businesses.

“Right across the island we have business clinics with the COJ who also has on their agenda the mission to ensure that persons in business either re-register or get their businesses registered,” says Ms. Ranger.

She also notes that both SDC staff and LEIs benefit from workshops facilitated by the COJ that are focused on the fundamentals of business registration.

“These sessions outline what is expected of entrepreneurs and aim to demystify taxation, reassuring participants that there is nothing to fear in the formalisation process,” Ms. Ranger states.

Meanwhile, Executive Director, Omar Frith, emphasised the critical role of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development (MLGCD) in enabling the success of the LEDSP.

“While we are an agency of the MLGCD and it may not be an external partner, but it is the most crucial partner in ensuring the survival and viability of this programme,” Mr. Frith states.

“From the onset, it is important to note that there was a time when the SDC was not allocated what was called a programme budget, as a consequence, a programme like this could not happen,” he continues.

Mr. Frith points out that in 2016, the Ministry ensured there was an increased injection in the SDC’s budget, enabling the introduction of the LEDSP grant.

He also acknowledges the Ministry’s continued financial support, including a recent allocation of $10 million to fund Special Entrepreneurship Grant requests.

“So, we really want to indicate our thanks to our parent ministry, who is our key partner in ensuring that we have the requisite funds to implement the programme and to provide the well-needed grants that our LEIs require,” the Executive Director adds.