Well-established and emerging business persons, throughout Anguilla, have been commended for their spirit of entrepreneurship – and their resolve to succeed despite the present competition posed by business investors from outside the island.
The event was a lively and well-attended service at the Hilltop Baptist Church on Sunday, November 15, to commence Global Entrepreneurship Week, a fairly new feature in Anguilla. The observance is a joint undertaking by the very active Department of Youth and Culture – and the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation which functions under that government department.
The Ministerial Assistant in the Ministry of Social Development and Education, Mr. Merrick Richardson, spoke on behalf of the Minister, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers. “Global Entrepreneurship Week is a connection of tens of thousands of events, activities and competitions around the world,” he explained. “Each November, it inspires millions of people to explore their potential as entrepreneurs while fostering connections and increasing collaboration. The event has expanded to 170-plus nations since its launch in 2008 with 20,000 partner organisations. Anguilla joins countries and organisations around the world each year in celebrating this Week.”
The Ministerial Assistant continued: “The Department of Youth and Culture and, by extension, the Ministry of Social Development and Education, welcomes the opportunity to celebrate this Week with all of you at the Hilltop Baptist Church…Entrepreneurship offers personal financial gain and self-employment which can translate to more job satisfaction. For the wider society, the benefits of entrepreneurship are even more far reaching. It leads to the development of goods and services resulting in new markets, the mobilisation of capital resources and the introduction of new technologies – all of which generate economic activity.”
Mr. Richardson added: “Anguillians have always possessed an entrepreneurial spirit which has served them well throughout the years. We want to continue to encourage this spirit. As such, the Department of Youth and Culture has organised a week of activities to foster this entrepreneurial spirit in all of you.”
Mr. Timothy Hodge, Director of Social Security, and a leader at the Hilltop Baptist Church, spoke about the involvement of his office in assisting business-minded persons to enroll in the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation Programme. He disclosed that so far over 100 persons had enrolled in the programme which he described as an amazing achievement. Mr. Hodge took the opportunity to recognise the work and success of a number of entrepreneurs, who were at the church service, for their varied enterprises.
“It is encouraging to see the business activities that are springing up in Anguilla,” he added. “Every day you hear about somebody doing something else. It is really encouraging, especially in these times, when the economy is still restricted, that persons are using their own creative abilities to do things; and there is still room for more ideas.”
The sermon, based on the spirit of entrepreneurship, was delivered by Pastor Gareth Hodge. He recalled, among other matters, that many Anguillian men had built schooners, travelled through the Caribbean and, having seen businesses there, had been inspired to establish the same in Anguilla. “So we have an enterprising entrepreneurial spirit that is within us and is part of the Anguillan psyche – and this is what we are developing today,” he observed.
Pastor Gareth, who has his own entrepreneurial business, listed a number of simple, but very important enterprises, that Anguillians could embark on to keep alive the spirit of entrepreneurship on the island. He stressed that the establishment and preservation of local businesses was a way of ensuring the survival of Anguillian investments in the face of competition from foreign business persons.
Other speakers included Mr. Clemvio Hodge, President of the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation, and Mr. Andre Hall, Proprietor of Halls Bakery and the owner of a new grocery establishment – notwithstanding the competition, and in these difficult Covid-19 times. Both speakers emphasised the benefits of entrepreneurship and encouraged more persons to become involved in that activity.
The last speaker was Premier Dr. Ellis Webster who, apart from being the national political leader of Anguilla, is a highly-trained and experienced Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon who previously qualified in Dentistry.
He was of the view that it was the entrepreneurial spirit within Anguillians that helped the 1967 Anguilla Revolution to occur and succeed. He took the opportunity to commend retired Pastor Davis Lloyd, founder of the Hilltop Baptist Church, and the owner of the first supermarket in Island Harbour, for his vision and contribution to Anguilla. He also spoke of some of the traditional ways that Anguillians were able to eke out a living out of necessity. He pointed out that there was also the spirit of entrepreneurship through which the people of Anguilla could advance the island economically.
It was a very meaningful and enlightening service – an important precursor to the launch of the Entrepreneurship Week in Anguilla.
