Tweet
UWI wants to create 200 millionaires annually
BY STEVEN JACKSON Observer staff reporter jacksons@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
THE University of the West Indies (UWI) will aid students in developing 200 businesses annually via a new development unit aimed at transforming the university into a wealth creation centre.
"We (at UWI) want to make millionaires instead of only boasting about producing prime ministers," stated Dr K'adamawe K'nife, lecturer in the UWI's Department of Management Studies.
Harold Davis (left), executive director at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, addressing Observer reporters and editors at yesterday’s Monday Exchange. Beside him is Dr Densil Williams who heads the University of the West Indies’ Department in Management Studies. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
Professor Evan Duggan, executive director of the Mona School of Business, makes a point at the Observer Monday Exchange yesterday.
Harold Davis (left), executive director at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, addressing Observer reporters and editors at yesterday’s Monday Exchange. Beside him is Dr Densil Williams who heads the University of the West Indies’ Department in Management Studies. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/2
He was one of six guests at the Observer's weekly Monday Exchange held yesterday at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue headquarters in Kingston.
New business ventures will be facilitated through the Mona School of Business (MSB) in conjunction with the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) — the state agency that has just set up a new office on the campus.
The JBDC unit will offer small business services to students, particularly those enrolled in the 'New Ventures' course of the master's in business administration (MBA) programme in which students are required to develop a business plan. Most of these plans are never operationalised and the collaboration is aimed at transforming these concepts into companies, stated Dr Densil Williams who heads the Department in Management Studies.
"We want to have about 100 ventures (per semester) and one major research project each year. We also want to have 45 bankable ideas per semester," stated Dr Williams.
The targets are doable, added Dr K'nife, based on the roughly 60 group projects received each semester from the 250 students enrolled in New Ventures and Entrepreneurship courses. In addition, the JBDC centre is open to the general UWI campus.
Funding can be sourced through various governmental and multilateral lending institutions, which when aggregated "total $9 billion", according to Dr Williams.
The JBDC unit will benefit from the creativity of the student body whose ventures tend to be highly ranked, compared with ventures from US institutions, according to Professor Evan Duggan, executive director of MSB.
Currently, the top MSB business venture receives the Vincent Hosang prize, which entitles the group to compete in the Opportunity Funding Corporation Venture Competition in Atlanta in the US.
"It involves between 20 and 25 schools in the US. We have never won, but we have come close, between second and sixth place. Last year we were judged the best presenter and received third place overall," stated Duggan.
The JBDC said those projects which cannot be operationalised will be "banked" for angel funding.
"Given the business plans that the students are expected to deliver every semester some of these ideas are really out-of-the-box ideas and great ideas. But many of the ideas remain just that, because many of the students don't have the necessary capital or connections to get the business capitalised appropriately," stated Harold Davis, executive director at the JBDC. "So we have decided to establish a bank of these ideas in a form that can be marketed to potential investors. We will be the brokers for these ideas."
This week, the MSB in collaboration with state-run EXIM Bank and the Jamaica Bankers Association will host Digicel founder Denis O'Brien in a forum entitled Secrets to Business Success.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1E1mJbEb0
BY STEVEN JACKSON Observer staff reporter jacksons@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
THE University of the West Indies (UWI) will aid students in developing 200 businesses annually via a new development unit aimed at transforming the university into a wealth creation centre.
"We (at UWI) want to make millionaires instead of only boasting about producing prime ministers," stated Dr K'adamawe K'nife, lecturer in the UWI's Department of Management Studies.
Harold Davis (left), executive director at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, addressing Observer reporters and editors at yesterday’s Monday Exchange. Beside him is Dr Densil Williams who heads the University of the West Indies’ Department in Management Studies. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
Professor Evan Duggan, executive director of the Mona School of Business, makes a point at the Observer Monday Exchange yesterday.
Harold Davis (left), executive director at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, addressing Observer reporters and editors at yesterday’s Monday Exchange. Beside him is Dr Densil Williams who heads the University of the West Indies’ Department in Management Studies. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/2 He was one of six guests at the Observer's weekly Monday Exchange held yesterday at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue headquarters in Kingston.
New business ventures will be facilitated through the Mona School of Business (MSB) in conjunction with the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) — the state agency that has just set up a new office on the campus.
The JBDC unit will offer small business services to students, particularly those enrolled in the 'New Ventures' course of the master's in business administration (MBA) programme in which students are required to develop a business plan. Most of these plans are never operationalised and the collaboration is aimed at transforming these concepts into companies, stated Dr Densil Williams who heads the Department in Management Studies.
"We want to have about 100 ventures (per semester) and one major research project each year. We also want to have 45 bankable ideas per semester," stated Dr Williams.
The targets are doable, added Dr K'nife, based on the roughly 60 group projects received each semester from the 250 students enrolled in New Ventures and Entrepreneurship courses. In addition, the JBDC centre is open to the general UWI campus.
Funding can be sourced through various governmental and multilateral lending institutions, which when aggregated "total $9 billion", according to Dr Williams.
The JBDC unit will benefit from the creativity of the student body whose ventures tend to be highly ranked, compared with ventures from US institutions, according to Professor Evan Duggan, executive director of MSB.
Currently, the top MSB business venture receives the Vincent Hosang prize, which entitles the group to compete in the Opportunity Funding Corporation Venture Competition in Atlanta in the US.
"It involves between 20 and 25 schools in the US. We have never won, but we have come close, between second and sixth place. Last year we were judged the best presenter and received third place overall," stated Duggan.
The JBDC said those projects which cannot be operationalised will be "banked" for angel funding.
"Given the business plans that the students are expected to deliver every semester some of these ideas are really out-of-the-box ideas and great ideas. But many of the ideas remain just that, because many of the students don't have the necessary capital or connections to get the business capitalised appropriately," stated Harold Davis, executive director at the JBDC. "So we have decided to establish a bank of these ideas in a form that can be marketed to potential investors. We will be the brokers for these ideas."
This week, the MSB in collaboration with state-run EXIM Bank and the Jamaica Bankers Association will host Digicel founder Denis O'Brien in a forum entitled Secrets to Business Success.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1E1mJbEb0
Comment