‘ElevateAll’ boot camp targets 35 operators in manufacturing sector

A total of 35 business owners, operators and managers from the local manufacturing sector are participating in a weekend Boot Camp at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.

After two years of targeting women in its business acceleration workshops and professional mentoring, the Centre for Local Business Development (CBLD) is now extending its reach to businessmen.

For the first time, nine men are among those selected.

Under the ‘ElevateAll’ banner and with support from ExxonMobil through the Greater Guyana Initiative, the 35 persons were selected from more than 70 applications.

In this first edition of ElevateAll, the cohort from the manufacturing sector will be exposed to the business model canvass during the weekend to help with business expansion and development.

Director of the Centre for Local Business Development, Natasha Gaskin Peters spoke at the opening of the camp on Friday and explained that the programme, which evolved from ‘Accelerate Her’ to ‘Elevate All’, remains a critical component of the Centre’s support for entrepreneurs in Guyana.

She explained that in phase two, only 15 participants will be selected for a 13-week programme to help improve marketing and close gaps in business in addition to improving documentation and standards.

These operators will be paired with mentors from across Guyana and it ends with ‘DemoDay’ where there will be a showcase of the improvements the businesses underwent and the new products that were developed.