THE MONTHLY GLEANER | JULY 6 - AUGUST 2, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 6 Neil Armstrong/Gleaner Writer TORONTO: B USINESS OPERATORS Suzette Beacher and Natalie Liburd are singing the praise of a recently launched programme designed to help small businesses navigate the world of commerce. The programme is administered by the Festival Management Committee (FMC), producers of the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival, and George Brown College, and pulls on their knowledge of, and good rapport with, the communities. For years, the FMC has been providing support, guidance and opportunities for small businesses. Recently, the organisers saw the opportunity to formalise a business advisory and education service through the government of Canada’s Black Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Fund. As a successful recipient, the FMC established the Building Black Entrepreneurial Program (BBEP) – designed to support community members in and around the carnival or festival ecosystem in Ontario by providing business management education, including financial literacy. Participants receive a certificate of completion awarded in partnership with George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology. The programme’s mandate is to build the capacity of black entrepreneurs in the arts, cultural, entertainment, and tourism-related industries to allow them to compete in the broader marketplace. The curriculum-based training, which is tailored to the unique needs of the festival supplier base, is designed to address specific gaps, including digital adoption and information technology – IT practices, vendor management, business plan development, and client relationship management. In so doing, the programme also helps businesses transition from the niche festival market to sustainable year-round viable businesses. CAPSTONE PROJECT Beacher, a Jamaican and co-owner of Essence of Flavour, a family-owned business based in Brampton, Ontario, was valedictorian at the BBEP graduation ceremony in late 2022. Her venture, Essence of Flavour, specialises in hot sauces and marinades that are a blend of fresh, natural ingredients with no additives or preservatives. “It is an amazing programme. I would encourage anybody and everybody to participate in it. If you have a business idea, if you’re in business, if you’ve been doing business forever, there’s something that you can learn, some way you can network, some way you can build,” she gushed. Having started her business three years ago, she says BBEP helped to develop her confidence in her skills and ability to partner with several persons. She says working withMichelle Lochan, managing director of the programme, and George Brown College allowed her to elevate her business. Through the programme she was able to meet Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Official Opposition of Canada, and discuss her product. She has also met with representatives of Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws. She says a capstone project which involvedmaking a pitch, similar to that done on the television show Dragons’ Den, was very useful. Now she pitches her product to various companies, knows her numbers, and is able to represent her own business. “It essentially started during the pandemic. My mother said tome,’You know what, it’s about time you stop giving it away for free; you should start selling it,’” said Beacher. Inspired, she then went to Walmart to purchase bottles and printed the labels in her office. She placed her products in the back of her car and went to a Jamaican restaurant and sat outside in the parking lot selling it. She says the business slowly began to build as she learnt what was required from the city and the province – things the BBEP also helped her to understand. NEW VENTURE Natalie Liburd owns The Wreath and Willow, a nursery located west of Hamilton, and is thankful for the support of the programme. Speaking at the media launch of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival at the Ontario Science Centre in June, Liburd said it was the first time that she was attending an event where she had made a presentation regarding her business. She is convinced that she inherited her green thumb from her Jamaican grandfather, Fitzgerald Richards, who migrated to Canada in the 1970s after responding to an article in the newspaper encouraging Jamaicans to apply in a contest for the opportunity to get a scholarship at the University of Toronto. He was the grand prize winner and migrated on a horticultural scholarship. “And that is what started the journey of my grandfather, my grandmother, and then my aunts and my mom, of course, coming to Canada. Without that history, I actually would not be here,”said Liburd. She says the love for all things gardening is a trait that her family shares, so much so that their grounds and property at home are as aesthetically pleasing as possible. She shares the business’ operational duties with her mother, who is an accountant and very structured. Describing herself as very free-spirited, Liburd said her mother keeps her focused. “She’s helping me get to that end goal which I so appreciate, because this is a completely new venture. Previously, my experience was municipal administration, so I kind of have that background which will help me on the business side of things; but truly, my blood pumps with agricultural, horticultural [efforts], greenery, all of that, so my mom is a huge help,”said Liburd. Black entrepreneurs welcome business advisory service Natalie Liburd CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Suzette Beacher - Carnival organisers launch programme for small businesses Lester Hinds/Gleaner Writer FIVE-YEAR-OLD JERMAINE Taylor successfully underwent an operation on Wednesday to have a new pacemaker implanted, following an appeal that galvanised the Jamaican diaspora around him to get the much-needed surgery. JERMAINE’S PLIGHT had been highlighted by The Gleaner, setting off a chain of events that culminated in Wednesday’s successful outcome. “I want to thank everyone who reached out to assist. A heavy weight has been lifted, and I want everyone to know how thankful we the family are for the assistance rendered,”his mother, Lorraine Hayes, told The Gleaner. The operation was done at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, with the procedure being performed by Dr Sherard Little. Hayes said the doctors have advised that he should be released from the hospital in the following five days. She thanked the doctors, nurses, and everyone involved in ensuring the successful outcome of her son’s procedure. Hayes had previously told The Gleaner that two weeks after Jermaine was born, it was found that he had a heart defect. He was transferred from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital to Bustamante Children’s Hospital, where a pacemaker was placed in his heart. That pacemaker needed replacing as Jermaine’s heart function had become poor. His mother told The Gleaner that the pacemaker was in need of replacement and the family was unable to come up with the US$22,100 needed to purchase the new device. The device was sourced in the United States, and the doctors at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital said that they would perform the procedure to implant the device if and when it was purchased. The family had set up a GoFundMe to try and raise the necessary funds to purchase the device but it did not gain any traction. Contact was made with Dr Robert Clarke, head of the Jamaican Physicians Association, senior medical adviser to the Diaspora Northeast, and a family friend, who, in turn, reached out to The Gleaner for help. Jamaica’s Consul General in New York, AlsionWilson, who had also been informed of Jermaine’s plight, jumped on board and raised the necessary funds to purchase the pacemaker. She told The Gleaner that she was very happy at the successful outcome of his procedure. “I am happy that we were able to help Jermaine and revel in the successful outcome, but I am still concerned about the other children at Bustamante Hospital who are in need of similar devices,” she said. Wilson thanked the newspaper for bringing Jermaine’s need to her attention and also extended her thanks to Hartford Hospital in Connecticut for its assistance in securing the device. “I hope to meet Jermaine sometime in the near future. He has a bright future, and he can now do all the things a five-year-old does,” she said. HELP JAMAICA Clarke, who is also head of Help Jamaica Medical Mission and East Orange Medical Service in East Orange, New Jersey, said the plight of young Jermaine was brought to his attention by Sonia Samuels, aunt of Jermaine, and he reached out to the family to offer whatever help he could give. “I discussed his situation with the board of Help Jamaica Medical Mission, and it was decided that the organisation would spearhead the drive to help raise the funds for young Jermaine,” said Clarke. Medical Mission, which has been in existence since 2010, is a 501 C3 non-profit organisation that has undertaken a number of medical missions to Jamaica as well as other parts of the Caribbean and Africa. “We cannot take on all cases that come to our attention, but I believe that this was a special case,” he told The Gleaner. Clarke believes that some cases are very special and deserving of assistance and Jermaine’s was one such. “We in the diaspora can help, and I am extremely happy at the successful outcome of this case,” he said. Clarke had been in constant touch with the doctors in Jamaica who were treating Jermaine as he monitored the situation. 5-y-o Jermaine Taylor gets new pacemaker implant Five-year-old Jermaine Taylor. CONTRIBUTED
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