01 Oct YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO SUPPORT CARICOM INTEGRATION
Graceson John – Dominica and Andew Julien – Trinidad and Tobago
The process of regional integration has been an important conversation among local and regional business captains since inception in 1968. However, despite the challenges, the process has evolved and has also been demonstrating a steady growth path. Given its significant contribution to world economies, entrepreneurship has been identified as critical to strengthening that Caribbean bond necessary for the overall success of youth entrepreneurship.
Starting this renewed process is the Caribbean Youth Entrepreneurship Summit, a new platform created for entrepreneurs and policy makers to collectively build a better future for business in the Caribbean. As an incentive to motivate young entrepreneurs, special awards were presented at the Summit held recently in Barbados, to a number of creative and innovative young entrepreneurs, who, through their determination and foresight, are set to break traditional barriers in their respective fields.
Copping the award for the Caribbean Regional Social/Environmental Entrepreneur, was Trinidad and Tobago’s Andrew Julien, one of YBTT’s success stories! Trading as Blue Earth Recycling Technology Limited, Julien provides an unparalleled recycling, collection and transportation service to selected recycling agencies throughout Trinidad and Tobago. The company’s primary focus is the collection of glass bottles, as well as supplying other recyclable waste materials including copper, aluminium and scrap iron for resale and reproduction of new items.
Dominica Youth Business Trust has also produced their own success stories who shared in the C-YES experience! Graceson John, trading as Big G’s Pepper Sauce was the proud winner of the award for the Caribbean Regional Start-Up Young Entrepreneur. John currently has 17 flavours of pepper sauce on the supermarket shelves in Dominica, including Coconut, Coffee, Sorrel, Cinnamon, Pumpkin, Garlic just to name a few. His innovative thinking continues to expand as he has a total of 21 pepper sauce recipes, 2 salad dressings and 2 seasoning sauces. His vision is to take his business to regional and international levels, thereby creating a household name!
Elias Dupuis trading as 365 Group Inc., also from Dominica, is determined to renew the face of the media production industry in Dominica. Winning the award for the Caribbean Regional Technology Young Entrepreneur, was definitely an inspiration to Dupuis, who together with his business partners, continuously apply the latest technology to provide top-quality services to clients such as video production, photography, motion graphics, compositing and web/graphic design services.
The door to capacity building for the CARICOM Region would definitely be unlocked by the creativity and innovation that resonate in the hearts and minds of young entrepreneurs!
By: Sandrine Rattan
Project Co-ordinator – Stakeholder & Media Relations (YBTT)
Published in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday on Thursday, October 1st, 2015