The University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center (VI SBDC) invite the public to the launch of the Virgin Islands Agriculture Business Center (VI AgBC) on Thursday, Dec. 7, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall on the University’s Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix.
The creation of the Virgin Islands Agriculture Business Center will provide local farmers and fishers with small business education and resources. The implementation of this center is “the goal of the 2021 Agricultural Plan directed by Act 8404 to increase agricultural productivity locally to make food security and sovereignty a reality for those living in the Virgin Islands.”
VI AgBC clients will receive one-on-one consulting, business education training, and technical assistance at no charge to the client. The programs offered by the VI AgBC aim to foster business development in the territory’s farming and fishery industries. Farmers and Fishers can receive assistance with such things as obtaining a business license, creating business plans, training to assist clients in being prepared for securing financing through funding, grants, and loans, training to be proficient in accounting and bookkeeping, learning cash flow analysis and other fundamental best practices for effective business operation and expansion. The VI AgBC is available to clients on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, with service centers on each island accommodated by consultants and support staff working to move the territory closer to food security and sovereignty.
There will be a launch celebration for STT/STJ in January 2024.
To learn more, please visit the VI SBDC website at www.visbdc.org, find them on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube), or download the mobile app to your telephone through Android or Apple platforms.
For media inquiries, please contact Network Marketing Coordinator, Sherrika Industrious-Phillips, at (340) 693-1117 or marketing@visbdc.org.