Your Money eZine

CONTENTS

DO GOODRunning for life p.6

EDITOR’S NOTEGrowing Jamaica p.4

TECH NOWSlash Roots: Open data platform for regional development p.7

BUSINESS LOUNGEiVu tv to push media boundaries p.9

eMedia Interactive:A Jamaican growth story p.11

Summer release for ‘50 Years of Entrepreneurship’ documentary p.14

Digicel: Jamaica is ready for business p.15

Y-FOLLOW@SAHSMuseum p.25

START UPSIsland Cycle p.22

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s Jamaica moves further into 2012, we at Your Money eZine feel it is important to

examine the growth in local business ventures and opportunities, and to provide a snapshot of how these may contribute to our economy, coming at such an important milestone: 50 years of Independence.

This theme of growth is personal to us at eMedia Interactive having secured investment to continue our growth and diversify within the emerging field of new media. In this issue you can read more about our plans for iVu, our Ca-ribbean online TV network, which will launch on February 15.

It is also important to reflect on the les-sons learned from the past as we move towards increased growth for the fu-ture. eMedia is currently producing a documentary project – in eZine and video format – called 50 years in En-

trepreneurship, which will highlight the resilience, hard work and achievements of 15 of Jamaica’s most notable and in-spirational entrepreneurs.

Growth comes in di!erent shapes and forms as evidenced by Digicel’s recent unveiling of plans to unleash a 4G tele-communications network, which o!ers an increased capacity for growth in the telecommunications industry. Speaking recently at the Jamaica Stock Exchange Investment and Capital Markets Con-ference on January 25, the company’s CEO, Mark Linehan, encouraged for-eign companies to follow the example of Digicel which grew from its launch in 2001 to a situation today where it op-erates in 31 countries worldwide.

The recently concluded Slash Roots developers conference and competi-tion suggested even further growth in the burgeoning Caribbean ICT sector. Held simultaneously in three locations

across the region, it sought to promote growth in regional software by encour-aging developers to create web-based applications that can be used to access open data in the fields of tourism, agri-culture and regional trade.

Young entrepreneurs Leanne Talbot and Xavier Bedasee are contributing to national growth in a unique way. They started Island Cycle, a business seek-ing to grow the adoption of recycling in Jamaica. Turning to corporate phi-lanthropy, PanCaribbean Financial Ser-vices will be seeking to raise even more from this year’s Sigma Corporate Run. Runners and walkers on Saturday, Feb-ruary 19 will be raising funds for Chain of Hope Jamaica, which provides cardi-ac surgeries at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

Tracey-Ann Wisdom

A

editor’s note

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GROWINGJAMAICA

hen the first PanCarib-bean Sigma Corporate Run was held in down-town Kingston 14 years

ago, the aim was to raise $500,000. This might have been an ambitious sum back in 1999, but in 2012, it’s a mere drop in the bucket when one consid-ers the myriad pressing needs of each year’s beneficiary.

The proceeds from this year’s event will go to Chain of Hope Jamaica, an organisation that works with the Busta-mante Hospital for Children to carry out cardiac surgeries. Under the theme ‘Play Your Part, Save A Heart’, PanCa-ribbean is aiming to raise $50 million, a figure that might seem unattainable given Jamaica’s current financial crunch, but don’t tell that to the organisers.

“When you have an audacious patron like Dr Usain Bolt, a beautiful patron like Lady Allen and a very successful pa-tron like Dr Danny Williams, it inspired us to be bold, because we want to help these vulnerable kids and, in doing so, help Jamaica,” President and CEO of PanCaribbean, Donovan Perkins, said at the o"cial launch of the event.

More than 400 children are born each year with a congenital heart defect and many others su!er from various con-ditions. The Bustamante Hospital for Children, the only specialist paediatric facility in the English-speaking Carib-bean, also serves children from other countries in the region.

Chain of Hope Jamaica was launched in 2007 to support the establishment of a self-sustained paediatric cardiac pro-gramme at the Bustamante Hospital for Children. The initial aim was to en-able the team of local surgeons to op-erate in between visits from overseas doctors. Chain of Hope, together with other cardiac partner organisations such as Chain of Hope UK, the Con-genital Heart Institute of Florida, Gift of Life International and the Caribbean

Heart Menders Association, trains and mentors the medical sta! and has so far sponsored the training of a paediat-ric cardiologist and a paediatric cardiac anaesthetist.

“Being able to outfit the hospital with equipment needed to facilitate heart surgeries is a worthy move in the right direction, especially when heart sur-geries would cost families in the region of US$10,000. Without $50 million, children in dire need of these vital sur-geries may lose their lives,” said race organiser, Alfred ‘Frano’ Francis of the Jamdammer’s Running Club.

Last year, approximately 15,000 mem-bers of corporate Jamaica, schools, clubs and other organisations partici-pated in the 5.6 kilometre (3.5 miles) event, which raised $15 million for the Victoria Jubilee Hospital’s Neonatal Care Unit. The organisers are hoping for an even bigger turnout this year. Those not able to participate in the race can still play a part by making do-nations directly to any PanCaribbean o"ce island-wide. Digicel customers can contribute by sending a blank mes-sage to 444-2498.

W “Being able to outfit the hospital with equipment needed to facilitate heart

surgeries is a worthy move in the right

direction.”

RUNNING FOR LIFEBy Tracey-Ann Wisdom

do Good

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scenes from last year’s sigma Corporate run.

list of ideas. A set of rules. Free access to relevant data. Twenty-four hours.

These were the tools available to the software developers who competed in the recent Caribbean Open Data Conference code sprint to create web-based applications to allow access to open data in the fields of agriculture, tourism and regional trade.

The focus of the competition and the conference overall was on increasing the development of information tech-nology applications in the region and promote open data in the spheres of business and government. Open data is the idea that certain data, such as that related to government, should be freely accessible to the public at any time.

At the end of the day, first place went to IT-Farm, second went to HarvesT-yme and third went to Higgler, created by Rohan Smith. The winning applica-tion allows comparative price search for farmers, consumers and wholesalers. It is location sensitive and also adjusts prices based on supply and demand via trend analysis.

The event, held simultaneously across Jamaica, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic, highlighted many of the com-

mon problems faced in the region and how they can be solved or alleviated using ICT. Having an open data plat-form enables more transparency in the public, private and civil sectors, boost-ing development and aiding private and public innovation, said Dmitri Dawkins, of SlashRoots, organisers of the confer-ence.

Locally, several agencies have open data platforms, including the Bank of Jamai-ca, National Land Agency and the Ru-ral Agricultural Development Agency (RADA), from which data for the code sprint was sourced. Former Prime Min-ister, Edward Seaga, also spoke of a da-tabase of macro-economic indicators that he will soon release on an open data platform. This will be an invaluable tool to local business interests.

The conference was facilitated by the Mona School of Business and sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Spatial

Innovision, Gordon-Mcgrath Law, MC Systems, Digicel Business, IBM, Trafal-gar Travel and LIME.

The regional competition, with the top three apps from each country will be scored tomorrow. For a complete list of apps developed across the region, visit:developingcaribbean.org

A Open data is the idea that certain data, such as that re-lated to government, should be freely accessible to the

public at any time.

SLASHROOTS: Open data platform for regional developmentBy Tracey-Ann Wisdom

teChnow

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(L-r) Presenters Mike rosenberg of the University College of the Caribbean; Michele Maurius, senior Consulting officer in Knowledge services at JAMPro and hugo daley, co-founder

and Ceo of transcel Limited.

real Business. real talk.

Brought to you by:

Business Lounge

!

iVU TV TO PUSH MEDIA BOUNDARIES

Welcome to the future.

By Jermaine Evans Photos by Warren Buckle

aunching on February 15 is the latest local and regional media revolution, iVu TV. Operating

under the umbrella of eMedia Interac-tive Ltd, iVu intends to take regional content to a whole new level, both in quality and worldwide reach.

iVu takes a similar business model to Hulu.com, which o!ers on-demand online TV in the United States market. While Hulu is a paid-for subscription-only service, iVu will be free to sub-scribers in the first year. As Hulu has now begun doing, iVu will also produce its own original content via iVu Studios.

In year two, a premium service will al-low subscribers access to more con-tent and mobile applications on the iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms. It will also stream to TVs via Roku set top boxes.

Content producers are signing up with iVu to stream past and current content ahead of the launch. Mark Kenny, pres-ident of MJK Television Productions, producers of shows such as The Con-tender, Digicel Rising Stars and Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall, was one of several content producers to welcome iVu at an introductory event held at JAMPRO last month.

“I think its the first time that we have actually seen something in Jamaica that has taken a really market-led approach in terms of getting Caribbean-pro-duced content unto a platform that has the right access to market and distribu-tion capabilities,” said Kenny.

Speaking at the event, Jamaica’s film commissioner, Kim Marie-Spence, added that she saw iVu as bolstering marketing e!orts to promote local content on the world market.

“This is the era that we’re in, a very Internet (and) social media-centric, digital era and it’s just the logical next step for us to move to an online TV network,” she said. “I know that the demand for content in other markets is there.”

iVu will not seek to compete with ana-logue TV but will broaden the spec-trum of Caribbean content available within the region and the Diaspora.

“Gone are the days when we are look-ing to approach a foreign company to get our distribution. We need to work amongst ourselves to have our content reaching international markets and sur-passing geographical boundaries, and that is what iVu TV is about,” Tyrone Wilson, eMedia Interactive President and CEO said at the introductory event.

Wilson’s vision for iVu is for content producers to have greater creative

freedom and in the long term, to pro-vide development support to help produce the shows rather than make the producer wait to be compensated when their work is sold and aired. He hopes that the network will encourage a greater flow of new content reaching the market.

iVu will also seek to encourage young-er producers to enter the market via ‘iVu Lens Support’, an initiative slated for later this year that will o!er $1 mil-lion and development support to pro-duce a show to the winner of a trailer competition.

Partnership will be crucial to the suc-cess of the venture, stressed Ross Sheil, eMedia Vice-President for Con-tent.

“It’s very important that by working with you, the content providers, we can ensure that in two or three years time everyone knows about iVu across the world as the online TV network for Jamaica and the Caribbean,” said Sheil.

Also present at the event, Better Mus Come director Storm Saulter added his perspective: “I hope that it keeps the bar high on the quality of content it al-lows. If it can do this, then it will be in a great position.”

Local TV personality and producer Empress was also enthusiastic about the potential of iVu: “It might be today, it might be next year, but I guarantee I will have something on the station [iVu].”

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“We need to work amongst ourselves to have our content reaching international markets and surpassing geographical boundaries, and that is what

iVu TV is about.”

L

Producer Mark Kenny and Director Storm

Saulter

Media personality

Empress

Film CommissionerKim-Marie Spence

here are ways of measuring growth and then in a conser-vative investment culture such

as Jamaica, there’s a company led by a 25-year-old raising US$350,000 from PanCaribbean to become a global me-dia brand.

Sounds like fiction? Well, the publication in which you’re reading this article is ac-tually owned by that company, eMedia Interactive Limited, and we hope our very real example will inspire other young entrepreneurs.

The vision of the company has always been to explore international technol-

ogy and trends and provide new alter-natives to the local market. These began with producing editorial eZines (digital magazines) such as Your Money, to ti-tles for corporate clients like PSOJ’s The Private Eye.

And on February 15 we will take an even bigger leap with the launch of iVu TV, Jamaica and the Caribbean’s first online television network.

“From day one, our entire approach was about being di!erent. Our culture is built on coming with new ideas, things that have not been explored locally. When we came with eZines in 2008

it was almost like we were speaking a di!erent language,” explained eMedia founder, Tyrone Wilson.

“It resonates well because our advertis-ing partners are looking for new ways of connecting with the target market. When you speak to some of them, there is frustration with the limited range of options. We are a breath of fresh air because we provide new ways for them to interact with their audience.”

Wilson now serves as the President and CEO of a company that is chaired by Richard Byles, President and CEO of Sagicor Life Jamaica. eMedia is proud that established business leaders and entities such as Byles and PanCaribbean have invested their time and funding in us. But this has not been by accident.

“First, it was a mutual attraction for the brands and our growth potential as a company that has made steps to be di!erent but yet also have a substantial business plan. When PanCaribbean did their checks, they saw a company that is run by a young individual and a young team but still has strong corporate gov-ernance: there was an advisory board; financials were available and year-by-year growth was readily available,” said Wilson.

For young entrepreneurs willing to fol-low such an example, he advises that they counterbalance passion for their business with a willingness to pay at-tention to and learn from best business practices.

“I always speak passionately about the company and where we can take it and it always sparks a di!erent level of in-terest when the CEO of a company is so passionate about the prospects. That and a willingness to learn and to listen and to take instructions, which is very important as a young entrepreneur – you have to listen because an invest-ment bank will not give money to some-one who is not willing to listen and take instructions from a board,” Wilson said.

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eMEDIA INTERACTIVE: A JAMAICAN GROWTH STORY

(L-r) donovan Perkins, President and Ceo of PanCaribbean; tyrone wilson, President and Ceo of eMedia interactive and richard Byles, President and Ceo of sagicor Life Jamaica.

Now with nine employees working across a range of di!erent products, eMedia aims to provide a di!erent kind of employment opportunity, albeit pre-dominantly to young people given that the company is focused on new media and related technologies.

“As a company we are of course look-ing to attract the best but we take a lot of pride in developing the talent. We come in here to learn, to grow and to be better. When you look at our re-source pool, we produce some world-class products because we take the time to improve. For individuals who want to improve their skills and improve the perception of work from Jamaica, then this is the company to do so because we have a global reach.”

Personal professional development is critical at a company like eMedia, which is looking to do business outside of Ja-

maica’s borders and to do so, must partner on equitable terms with leading technology providers, such as Bright-cove, which provides the video hosting platform for iVu.

With a strong team in place we are con-fident of continuing our growth towards an IPO in three to four years time when we plan to list on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

The future is bright and we are thankful for everyone who has contributed and shared in this growth. The foundation has been strong from the beginning and special thanks must go to Sheree Martin of NCB and Chris Williams of Proven Investments. Both provided essential mentorship and backing, without which our company’s founding and growth would have been inevitably delayed.

Here’s to growth in 2012!

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(L-r): donovan Perkins, tyrone wilson and richard Byles, chairman of the board of directors for the company.

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n recognition of the invaluable contribution of entrepreneurs to Jamaica’s development over the last 50 years, new media com-

pany eMedia Interactive, will highlight the journeys of 15 of Jamaica’s most notable entrepreneurs.

In a documentary entitled 50 Years of Entrepreneurship, the company is hop-ing to document the outstanding, rivet-ing and motivating stories of the men and women who worked to establish companies that have proven crucial to

the island’s economic development, while employing thousands of Jamai-cans.

According to Tyrone Wilson, eMedia Interactive President and CEO, the idea to create the documentary was planted a few years ago, but came to fruition when he noticed that many young en-trepreneurs aren’t aware of the rich entrepreneurial history of the country.

“It came from a personal desire of mine. When I looked at entrepreneurs

from around the world, I was always able to find information online about them. Being a student of entrepreneur-ship, I’ve always tried to find out about our entrepreneurs, how they started and the struggles they faced,” he said. Not feeling satisfied with the limited information he found, Wilson decided that a documentary would be the best avenue to bring light to their successes.

Set to be a open and informative com-pilation of their journeys, the docu-mentary aims to help archive a vital period of the island’s economic history and serve as a resource for students and young entrepreneurs who want to chart the successes of their favourite local entrepreneurs.

As Jamaica celebrates 50 years of Inde-pendence this year, the documentary is very timely and will serve as a perfect reminder of not only where the coun-try is coming from, but undoubtedly the steps it needs to take to move for-ward into a new era.

Consequently, in charting the journey of these entrepreneurs, Wilson is also using part of the proceeds from the sale of the DVDs to fund a young and upcoming entrepreneur who has an interest in developing a business, but might lack the resources.

“In order to make it in this economy, you have to have a good support sys-tem. We want to identify that person and give them the start that’s needed,” he said. “We see it fit to work with an entrepreneur who wants to be the next big thing coming out of Jamaica.”To be released this summer, the docu-mentary will feature the likes of R Dan-ny Williams who founded Life of Jamai-ca, now Sagicor Jamaica, and Maurice Facey, the founder of Pan-Jamaican Investment Trust and PanCaribbean Fi-nancial Services.

The journeys of all 15 pioneers will also be available via individual eZines.

I

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SUMMER RELEASE FOR ‘50 YEARS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP’DOCUMENTARYBy Keresa Arnold illustration by Warren Buckle

hen Digicel CEO Mark Linehan reminds that, “be-fore Jamaica, there was no

Digicel,” it not only warrants a glance back at the beginnings of the company, but might inspire others investors to take a closer look at a small island which could launch a successful telecommuni-cations empire.

This was precisely Linehan’s aim as he gave a teaser of the impending upgrade of Digicel’s mobile network to 4G, when speaking at the 7th annual Jamaica Stock Exchange Investment and Capital Markets Conference on January 25.

The upgrade marks a further US$30 million investment on top of the com-pany’s US$1 billion investment in Ja-maica to date and its acquisition of the Claro network. Then there’s its US$60 million investment in a new state-of-the-art group headquarters in down-town Kingston. All of this, said Linehan, is “testament to the climate that cur-rently exists for investment in Jamaica.”

Attractive destinationLinehan highlighted the major factors that made Jamaica the birthplace of Digicel and an attractive destination for FDIs, which include its proximity to the United States, ideal for trading with the

rest of the world; its English-speaking, highly skilled and well-educated work force; its modern and sophisticated in-frastructure, with three international airports, a major shipping port and an extensive highway and road network. Overall, this makes for “a stable busi-ness climate, with an outward-oriented and progressive regulatory environ-ment across all sectors,” he said.

Linehan also touted the country’s “ex-cellent telecoms infrastructure, with service providers o!ering 3G, 4G broadband, international roaming, and connectivity to the rest of the world” and the upcoming 4G mobile technol-ogy, with 80 per cent population cover-age at launch, “will in itself drive further economic growth in Jamaica.” Poised for growthIt perhaps causes a jolt of surprise to some that Jamaica has weathered the global recession whereas formerly more prosperous economies like Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain have all had to be bailed out several times by the European Union. At the height of the recession, several measures were implemented to help keep the country afloat, including the Jamaica Debt Ex-change ( JDX), which has also stabilised the local dollar.

This stability provides a platform for new investors to build on. “We saw GDP grow, albeit small, in 2011 and Ja-maica is also forecast to show growth in 2012. Key areas of the economy like tourism and bauxite production both showed growth in 2011, and if the US economy avoids slipping back into a double-dip recession, then this bodes well for Jamaica and the wider Carib-bean economy,” said Linehan.

Additionally, Minister of Finance and Planning, Peter Phillips, has assured all business interests that the Government will not be pursuing a policy of high in-terest rates, which “bodes well for en-hanced economic activity.”

Key opportunities and incentivesWith the platform laid, the government is supporting investment opportunities in various sectors, including manufactur-ing, agriculture, tourism, entertainment and sports, energy and information and communication technology (ICT). Line-han remarked that the latter is “good news for Jamaica as there is a clear cor-relation between progress on develop-ing technology infrastructure and strong economic growth.”

DIGICEL: ‘JAMAICA IS READY FOR BUSINESS’

(L-R) President of the Jamaica Olympic Association, Mike Fennell, Mark Line-han, CEO of Digicel Jamaica and Marlene Street Forrest, General Manager of

the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

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Jamaica Promotions Corporation ( JAM-PRO) is expecting significant investments from a number of “large players” in the ICT industry that have expressed inter-est in setting up operations here. Al-ready Convergys Corporation, one of the largest agent-assisted customer ser-vice companies in the world has commit-ted to invest US$20 million ($1.7 billion) in setting up its Montego Bay call centre, which will employ 1,000 persons.

Additionally, the government has intro-duced a range of targeted tax reliefs and incentives for overseas investors, which should help in ensuring that Jamaica re-mains competitive amongst Caribbean islands as companies decide where to base their businesses.

Upcoming Jamaica Investment Forum To further bolster the country’s repu-tation as a top Caribbean investment destination, the government will seek to attract potential investors to the fo-rum, slated for March 1-2 in Montego Bay. The team of speakers, led by Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, will pres-ent a raft of significant investment proj-ects in the context of Jamaica’s enabling business environment and its key growth sectors, specifically the priority areas of ICT, tourism, manufacturing and in major privatisation and development projects.

The tourism session will showcase sever-al new, exciting value-added investment

opportunities in health and wellness tourism, and also present the country’s policy on timeshare. ICT will focus on business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT export services (ITES), while the ses-sion on manufacturing will highlight the many advantages of establishing niche-manufacturing operations in Jamaica.

Continue to investThis pronounced thrust to attract new investors comes against the backdrop of a steep fall in FDIs over the past three years, from a high of US$1.4 billion in 2008 to US$541 in 2009 and US$201 million in 2010, according to the World Investment Report.

Nonetheless, Linehan urged potential investors to use the Digicel story as an example of how investing in Jamaica can pay rich dividends. Since launching in Ja-maica in April 2001, Digicel has expand-ed into 31 markets across the Caribbe-an, Central America and the Pacific.

“People identify with Jamaica the world over. Brand Jamaica has never been stronger,” he said. “My advice to inves-tors who are looking at Jamaica as an investment option is to go for it because the experience is a fantastic one, the people are great and the opportunities are considerable. Jamaica has huge po-tential and is a great place to do busi-ness.”

Linehan cited the key sectors primed for growth through areas

such as:

Energy plants for liquefied natural gas, waste, wind and solar power generation have been established and incentives are available for investors.

Kingston, which has been designated a resort city to include a cruise ship pier, a casino, hotels, retail and commercial properties and mixed income housing.

with 1,500 acres of prime real estate well placed to support ICT.

-tre: A recent study by Baker & McKenzie indicates that Jamaica is well suited to be a niche player in international financial ser-vices for international holding companies, trust services, corporate management services and professional management support services to other jurisdictions.

(L-R ) Donovan Perkins, President and CEO of PanCaribbe-an, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Mark Linehan.

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It’s ‘Tax Season’ and businessmen and women should be preparing to submit their income tax annual re-turns, due March 15. It is therefore very important that persons under-stand the basics of income tax filing.

WHO MUST FILE A RETURN?Anyone who operates a business or receives income, which has not been taxed at source, is required under the income tax act to file an income tax return on or before March 15 each year. The categories of persons include:

partners);

sources of income (such as rent, a ‘side’ business)’;

AS AN INDIVIDUAL HOW TO I KNOW IF I SHOULD BE FILING RETURNS?

for last year (2011) was more than $441,168 should file a tax return. However, if your only source of in-come was from employment and/or bank interest and the income was already taxed at source by your employer under the pay as you earn (PAYE) system and/or by the bank under the withholding tax system then you do not need to file a re-turn, unless you were directed by the commissioner General to do so.

a business on the ‘side’, you are re-quired to declare this income and file a tax return. This applies to per-sons such as:

o Teachers who receive money for extra lessons;

o Government Doctors who also have a private practice;

o Architects, surveyors, etc, em-ployed by a firm, but who also pro-vide independent services;

o Lawyers employed in the public or private sector who also provide independent services;

o Employees who rent out all/part of their house(s); and

o employees who do hairdressing, dress making, etc for a fee;

The total income, including the em-ployment income, is to be reported and a credit will be given for the tax paid under the PAYE system.

WHAT AND WHEN SHOULD I FILE?All categories of persons must file an income tax final return for last year (2011) and must also file a tax return indicating estimated or projected income and the tax pay-able for the current year (2012) by March 15.

The final income tax payment for 2011 should be made by March 15, while the estimated payment is to be made quarterly by March 15, June 15, September 15, and Decem-ber 15.

HOW SHOULD I FILE?Preferably filing should be done on-line at www.jamaicatax-online.gov.jm; or at one of Jamaica’s 29 tax o"ces.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I FAIL TO FILE MY RETURN?An estimated assessment, which may also include a penalty, could be generated automatically and sent to you. Alternatively, a court summons could be issued for the outstanding return(s). The court may fine you an amount not exceeding $10,000 for each outstanding return, plus you would still owe any outstanding tax assessed.

INCOME TAX 101

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ISLAND CYCLE

ecycling might not be very popular in Jamaica, but 24-year-old Leanne Talbot, 24, and Xavier Bedasee, 25, are

hoping to change that reality. They’ve already started by turning their love for the environment into a recycling busi-ness. Island Cycle, which the enthusias-tic business partners started last year, is aimed at decreasing the Caribbean’s carbon footprint while providing recy-clable materials to organisation’s out-side of Jamaica and the Caribbean.

O!ering competitive prices, these companies will be able to turn the materials into actual products. It’s a win-win for Island Cycle, especially in a country that doesn’t have a structured and sustained recycling system.

“Our goal is to implement a recycling structure for Jamaica and the wider Ca-ribbean, collecting recyclable materials from households, schools, o"ces, ho-tels, gated communities, gullies, beach-es, other public recreational areas, etc,”

said Bedasee. “Island Cycle will make recycling easier for the average person by providing a gate collecting service in residential and commercial areas.”

Bedasee and Talbot initially started col-lecting materials from friends, family and small business. However, plans are in place to expand to a larger customer base next month. Since the business began operations last year, Island Cycle has been positively received by individ-uals and businesses alike.

“Our goal is to implement a recycling structure for Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, col-lecting recyclable materials

from households, schools, o!c-es, hotels, gated communities, gullies, beaches, other public

recreational areas, etc.”

R

By Keresa ArnoldPhotos by Warren Buckle

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Island Cycle partners Leanne Talbot and Xavier Bedasee

“Island Cycle is looking for the support of corporate Jamaica to raise awareness about recycling and have it become the norm in the Caribbean. Island Cycle has various projects on which we are invit-ing organisations to partner with us,” said Talbot.

Plans are in place to have a more large-scale recycling process that would give individuals across the island the oppor-

tunity to participate in exciting ways to recycle.

The two bring to the table a combination of experience and youthful exuberance. Bedasse has experience in his father’s company and from operating his own business at age 16, while Talbot is cur-rently in final year at the University of the West Indies studying Management Stud-ies with a focus on operations. There are

many plans in place for the business, and the partners are hoping to be the leading recycling company in Jamaica within the next five years.

Understanding the importance of cor-porate social responsibility, Island Cycle has also started doing presentations at schools and expos in order to educate individuals about the importance of re-cycling and protecting the environment.

1. In the initial stages of the company, they are cur-rently focusing on the collection of plastic bottles-only for recycling.

2. Recyclable materials will be collected on a sched-uled basis from home/o"ce gates and from strate-gically located public drop-o! points.

3. Collected materials will either be shredded or baled and then shipped to manufacturers overseas and used to make products.

4. Individuals can partner with Island Cycle by as-sisting in clean-up projects and providing them with recyclable materials.

Island Cycle was one of the first 13 entrepreneur-ial ventures inducted into the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in Montego Bay. The experience, they say, has helped Island Cycle strengthen its busi-ness mode and entrepreneurial skills and gain access to a network of successful entrepreneurs in the Ca-ribbean.

For more information contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

Photo by Warren Buckle

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@SAHSMUSEUM Having joined Twitter in April last year, St Andrew High School (SAHS) has been active on the platform via an account belonging to the school’s museum. Even though it was initially created to broad-cast the happenings of the newly opened institution, it also uses Twitter to share the successes of its students, past and present.

To its credit, it recently won the ‘Best Jamaican Video Blog Award’ at the Jamaica Blog Awards. Recognising the benefits of this platform, social media team leader Gale Peart, advises: “Ready or not, social media networking is the way of the future. When used smartly and creatively, social media networking tools can be a useful and exciting teaching aid. Do engage to stay relevant. The possibilities are end-less.”

Here are five benefits they’ve gained and lessons you can learn from their experience on Twitter.

NETWORKING. Complementing the aims of the museum, Twitter allows SAHS the opportunity to not only reconnect and interact with past, present and future students, but to engage insti-tutions with similar goals.

PUBLIC RELATIONS/BRAND PROMOTION. It’s an easy and e!ective way to connect with the target audience without ac-cruing huge costs. This is especially important for companies with limited or no public relations budget.

ACCESSIBILITY. With a significant percentage of the world’s population actively engaged on Twitter, it is an e!ective way for persons here and abroad to ask the museum questions and interact with them in real time.

THE ‘HYPE’ QUOTIENT. People will seek out your brand more when they feel like they can relate to what you’re o!ering. That’s the ‘hype’ factor for the museum. Being on Twitter elevates status of the museum among students who now think the institu-tion is that little bit cooler.

ADAPTABILITY. One important element of any successful busi-ness is the ability to adapt to changes. Communication technolo-gies are ever changing; therefore, the museum accepts this fact and has made changes in order to reach out to a wider target audience. This is key to social media success.

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