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Local Companies Forge Links with the Diaspora

Published:Thursday | June 18, 2015 | 11:20 AMMark Titus
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Mark Titus
Women Entrepreneur Network of the Caribbean: (From left) Keri Henry; Janice Dacres Jones, vice-president; Ethnie Miller Simpson, president; Grace Foster Reid; and Vivette Webber McLaughlin, project administrator, smile for the camera.
Mark Titus
Representing United Way of Jamaica at the just-concluded diaspora conference are (from left) Winsome Wilkins, CEO; Wayne Wray; Paul Cole; Dr Marcia Forbes – board members; and Althea Bennett, campaign and communications manager.
Mark Titus
Representatives of Richmond Development Company Limited (from left) Tameka White, sales executive; Jamilia Nelson, sales promotion agent; and Lorna Ebanks, sales executive, inside their booth at the diaspora conference.
Mark Titus
The Victoria Mutual Building Society team: Clive Newman (seated), assistant vice-president, credit, with (from left) Shanell Bernard, wealth advisor; Ingrid Willis-Rerrie, realtor; and Joan Latty, manager for sales, marketing and administration.
Mark Titus
Major sponsors of this year’s diaspora conference are Caribbean Airlines’ Andrew Hall (left), cargo coordinator; Delia Bennett (centre), sales executive, Jamaica; and Clive Forbes, general manager, Jamaica.
Mark Titus
DHL’s Soyica Henry (left), retail and e-Penetration executive, and Omar Stephenson, field account executive, proudly showcase their brand at the diaspora conference.
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While the various discussions took pride of place at the Sixth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, firms offering goods and services took the opportunity to interact with potential investors, clients and partners at the Diaspora Marketplace.

Although dominated by government entities, several operators in the private sector were pleased with the response.

"It has been a tremendous success. We participated as an experiment to see the reaction to our products, but have been blown away by the interest shown in the offerings." said Ethnie Miller Simpson, president of the Jamaica chapter of Women Entrepreneur Network of the Caribbean.

"In fact, three distributors have held preliminary discussion to sell products for three of our members, and in one case, a member of the network had to sell all that she took for the exhibition."

For Omar Stephenson, field account executive at DHL, the objective of their participation was met. He said, "The conference has gone well for us. We have an established relationship with the members of the diaspora because DHL has been sole provider for more than 20 years and that partnership makes reaching out to the diaspora here at the conference much easier."