ENSURING TRUE INCLUSIVITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH SPECIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP GRANTS
On Thursday, July 17, 2025, 100 entrepreneurs from St Catherine, Clarendon and Kingston gathered at the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development for the Social Development Commission’s (SDC) Special Entrepreneurship Grant Presentation Ceremony.
The Grant, which is a part of the SDC’s Local Economic Development Support Programme (LEDSP) is geared towards providing support through training and funding for regularized nano businesses across the island.
Keynote Speaker and Minister
of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Honourable Dana Morris Dixon emphasized that the grants are a pathway to new possibilities for entrepreneurs and the broader Jamaica.
“These grants are providing new hope, new possibilities, and new opportunities to communities across Jamaica, and that is what inclusive economic growth looks like,” she said.
Senator Morris Dixon further highlighted the value of the programme and provided insight into how the beneficiaries can access additional training and funding from other programmes available through the government.
“We are equipping young people with skills that are relevant for the 21st century, more importantly, we are equipping them with skills that are free”, she added.
Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond Mckenzie emphasized that the Social Development Commission has been putting its funding to good use since being allocated a budget from the central government in 2016.
“I have no doubt in my mind that we have gotten value for money, and we have created more small business entrepreneurs in this country because of the success of this programme,” he said.
“Never in the history of Jamaica as we have seen the unemployment rate at the level that it is today… and we within local government and the SDC can say that we have contributed to the reduction in unemployment because of programmes such as this,” he continued.
The special entrepreneurship grant is a strategic approach to addressing the needs of nano and micro businesses in underserved communities by empowering recipients and providing immediate relief for their businesses. As of January 2025, over 1000 nano enterprises have benefitted from grant funding of more than $46 million. At last Thursday’s ceremony an additional $11 million was handed over to the SDC to provide funding for 250 more entrepreneurs.
