By Val Matthias. Updated 1:47 p.m., Sunday, August 30, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Entrepreneurship must be recognised as a profession if St Vincent and the Grenadines is to strengthen job creation and economic growth.
That was the message from the newly installed Chairman of the Centre for Enterprise Development (CED), Luke Boyea, who said that small businesses and entrepreneurs remain the driving force behind employment in the country.
Speaking at the closing ceremony for CED’s Strategic Plan Project at Sunset Shores Hotel in Villa on Thursday August 27th, 2026, Mr Boyea said too little attention is given to entrepreneurship as a career path.
“Doctors and lawyers don’t generally create jobs,” he said, noting that a significant portion of the country’s economy is made up of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Mr Boyea used the occasion to call for greater advocacy on behalf of businesses as CED embarks on a new five-year strategic plan designed to strengthen support for entrepreneurs and advance private sector development.
The strategic framework, funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, is the result of a year-long planning exercise and is intended to guide the organisation’s work over the next five years.
Mr Boyea cautioned that the plan’s success will depend on more than the efforts of CED alone.
“The strategic plan should not and does not exist in a vacuum, nor is it just an academic exercise,” he said, adding that it requires the active participation of the micro, small and medium-sized business community, government agencies and other support institutions.
He said government and key institutions, including the National Development Bank, have an important role to play in creating an environment where businesses can succeed. However, he stressed that entrepreneurs must also take advantage of the opportunities and support available to them.
The CED chairman further emphasised the need for communities across the country to become more aware of the services available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, while calling on support agencies to deliver what he described as “best in class” assistance.
The new strategic plan is expected to strengthen CED’s ability to provide more responsive services to entrepreneurs while ensuring its programmes remain aligned with the evolving needs of the private sector.
For Mr Boyea, the measure of success will ultimately be seen in stronger businesses, greater entrepreneurship and more opportunities for Vincentians. As he told the gathering: “Success will breed success.”
On its website, the Centre for Enterprise Development Inc. (CED) describes itself as a non-profit organization, established in 2005 by the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to support and stimulate the expansion of the private sector. Incorporated in 2001, the CED replaced the former Small Enterprise Development Unit (SEDU).
The CED says it supports the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME)sector by undertaking business development and institutional strengthening initiatives, advocacy, training and education with the objective of creating an enabling ecosystem for MSMEs to prosper and make a positive impact on the development of St. Vincent and the Grenadines by.
The organization says it does so by providing a range of services to prospective entrepreneurs and MSME operations, coordinating interventions from several sources, and promoting and maintaining a climate that is conducive to the growth and development of the MSME sub-sector.
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