Executive Director of the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Calvin Bartlett, has painted a rose picture of the private sector organisation, which he says is making a great impact on the business and economic life of the island and attracting the attention of other organisations near and far.

Barbara Owen, John Benjamin, Governor George and Hon. Victor Banks

He was at the time speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Chamber at the Overlook Restaurant where many business representatives from various sectors were in attendance. Among the some 70 persons were Governor Andrew George, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Victor Banks and a four-member delegation from the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Bartlett described the meeting as an historic occasion, mentioning the close cooperation it enjoys with the Anguilla Government with which it will shortly sign an agreement. He said that agreement would change the structure of the organisation and give it the ability to provide a better quality of service to its growing membership.

He told the large gathering that there were now between 60 and 100 members and that the aim was to attract the support of up to 1045 members who pay business licences. He stressed that the Chamber’s objective was to be a voice for the business community and a supportive partner of first choice.
“ACOCI is proud of the way that the Anguilla business community has responded to the call for improvement, innovation and cooperation last year,” Bartlett stated in his annual report. “Their responses to our online surveys help us to better improve members’ services and aid us in forming new initiatives and programmes.”

Melinda Goddard and Mr. Calvin Bartlett

He listed a number of plans the Chamber has for this year. They include the setting up of an Advisory Committee. This will be responsible for advising the board about issues of major economic importance and their impact on the local business environment. There is to be an Ambassador’s Club to strengthen and support all current Chamber members and to enlighten prospective members about the benefits of membership.

There will be a Business Education Advocacy programme. It will be aimed at providing a partnership initiative between business and educational institutions. The intention is to increase and expand communications, meet workforce demands, enhance career opportunities and strengthen local skills and employment opportunities. There is also a plan to introduce an initiative called “Anguilla Start –up Enterprise Economic Development (A-SEED). It is a new economic development project designed to provide comprehensive programmes that will help new businesses to prosper, attract new investment and business and ensure their ongoing success.

Mr. Bartlett was accompanied by Melinda Goddard of Clientell Consulting, LLC, who works closely with the Chamber on customer and leadership training seminars and the conducting of the annual businesses surveys.

President of the Board, John Benjamin, was pleased with the continued support the Chamber was receiving from Minister Victor Banks from its inception; the faithful support of Marcel Fahie; and the hard work of Calvin Bartlett in developing the Chamber and attracting a growing membership.

Members of the business community

Mr. Banks expressed the hope that the Chamber would become a vibrant organisation promoting the interest and development of the business community. He said Government had undertaken to assist the Chamber by agreeing to allocate a portion of the revenue collected from business licence fees to the organisation on an annual basis.

“The argument that was advocated was that in doing so the Chamber could have a meaningful source of revenue with which to fund its activities and at the same time all holders of business licences would automatically become members of the Chamber,” Banks said.

He continued: “We considered the Chamber’s proposal and eventually arrived at an agreement for Government to grant the Chamber a subvention equivalent to but not exceeding 15% of the annual revenue realised from business licences or 80% of the Chamber’s budget, whichever is lower. On this basis EC$167,617 was granted to the Chamber in 2006. This represents a vast improvement over what was previously provided to the Chamber by Government. The funding arrangement is the cornerstone of an overall Cooperation Agreement which Government hopes to shortly conclude with the Chamber.”

The Minister said the funds provided by Government would not be enough to support all the activities of the Chamber. The business organisation would therefore have to be creative in raising revenue through its services to ensure that its operations were sustainable.
Hubert Pantophlet, a member of the St, Maarten delegation admired the Anguilla Chamber for its hard work and said its influence and achievements were of much benefit to the two islands and the rest of the region. He added that the St. Maarten Chamber was looking forward to establishing closer links with the organisation in neighbouring Anguilla.

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