A first Business Labs Training of Trainers Workshop focused on Small and Medium Enterprise Development and Rural/Agro Tourism was held at the Public Service Training Center in Roseau Dominica , from October 9 th to 13 th , 2006.

The workshop was organized by the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) with the support of the Office of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States in Dominica , the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) in Dominica and the National Association of Youth in Agriculture (NAYA) in Dominica .

Present at the opening ceremony was Ms. Nichole Duncan - Program Manager of Young Americas Business Trust (YABT), Mr. Andy White - Main Trainer for the Caribbean, Mr. Paul Brown - OAS Director in Dominica, Mr. Jules Pascal - Chief Youth Development Officer in the Ministry of Youth, Mr. Kervin Stephenson – Technical Specialist from IICA in Dominica and Mr. Malcolm Wallace – President of National Association of Youth in Agriculture.

The workshop represented a very important opportunity for the participants to learn practical business skills through hands on experience. The methodology provides creation of employment through entrepreneurship and the use of the Agriculture and Tourism to develop new markets and employment opportunities.

Mr. Kervin Stephenson, Technical Specialist from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture presented the Agro/Rural Tourism content of the workshop. He presented information on the numerous opportunities in Agriculture and Tourism that are available in Dominica and the other Caribbean Islands .

The participants in this workshop include persons from Dominica and other neighboring Islands in the Caribbean which includes Guyana , St. Lucia , St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago .

The participants from Dominica comprised of persons from the Dominica State College, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Youth, YES Corps, NAYA and the Hotel and Tourism Association.

The regional participants comprised of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development unit in St. Lucia , YABT national chapter in Guyana , Ministry of Tourism and Sports in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education in Trinidad and Tobago .

Nichole Duncan
Program Manager
Young Americas Business Trust
Organization of American States