CEBO Training starts up in Sandy Point on Monday

Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 01, 2012 (SKNIS): The Department of Youth Empowerment in St. Kitts is busy finalizing arrangements to pilot a unique regional programme designed to familiarize young people with the basics skills of starting and running a business.

Senior Youth Officer Pierre Liburd told SKNIS that the Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO) entrepreneurship training programme will be implemented from November 05 to 09 in the town of Sandy Point. CEBO was designed by the Youth Desk of the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the Department of Youth Empowerment, the Caribbean Group of Youth Business Trusts and other regional stakeholders.

Trainees will explore theories of product development, market research, costing and pricing, advertising and sales. What makes CEBO different however is the focus it places on social skills such as anger management and conflict resolution, as well as the emphasis on regional identity and integration.

We’re going to have a lot fun,” Mr. Liburd stressed. “Our sessions incorporate quite a number of interactive and enjoyable activities that serve to reinforce the messages of entrepreneurship and social skills and we are excited to be executing this project.”

The workshop will cater to 25 young people aged 16-29. The training sessions will largely be guided by CEBO facilitators Ervin Welsh and Ian Richards. Mr. Richards recently attended the CEBO training in Belize to observe and lend technical support to the activities there. He described the sessions as “insightful” noting that he was able to learn some best practices that he intends to use to enrich the training here.

Support persons from the Sandy Point business community and other public and private sector organizations have also been tapped to perform various roles in the workshop including presentations and mentoring of the participants who are expected to establish and run simulated companies and sell products brainstormed during the workshop.

A limited number of spaces are available and interested individuals can register or gain more information by calling 664.9480 or 764.8757.

St. Kitts and Nevis is the third country to pilot the CEBO programme. Jamaica and Belize have completed their training while Dominica and the Bahamas are scheduled to do so in the near future.