Business Incubator spaces available at ICT Centre
By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com
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National ICT Centre
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Department of Information and Technology has announced the availability of four Business Incubator spaces at the National ICT Centre at the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site. The incubators will provide a comprehensive cost-efficient business environment, designed to effectively facilitate the establishment and sustain early development of local small IT businesses.
The programme is intended for start-up and home-based businesses that meet certain criteria, such as being less than three years old, being a registered or incorporated business/company and being involved in IT-based services or operations.
Each incubator tenant will be able to lease a maximum of 100 square feet of office space. A myriad of services will be available to them, including access to a business research library, training and meeting rooms, local and overseas telephone and fax services, business counselling by trained advisors, and accounting, secretarial, marketing and design services.
Colin Frank, Training Coordinator at the ICT Centre, stated that the initiative is a way of encouraging the development of technology-based businesses and providing ideal conditions to ensure their success.~~Adz:Right~~
“Research has shown that lots of businesses fail within the first two years, and a reason for that may be the high rents that many entrepreneurs are forced to pay. Not only will the rent charged be affordable, but it will also include the cost of utilities and the tenants will have access to technical assistance and business support. We want to give them insight to the best business practices so they can have success,” he said.
The maximum period of incubation for any business in the programme is two years, and, according to Frank, this is due to the fact that “after the time period has expired, the businesses should be sufficiently well-established to branch out on their own”.
Interested individuals are encouraged to contact the ICT Centre, where they will be given a two-part application form. The four successful candidates will then be chosen from the application pool.
