COCI board president Benjamin Ortega enlightening persons about doing business in St. Maarten during one of the sessions.
PHILIPSBURG–University of St. Martin (USM) was transformed into bustling hub of activity on Saturday when hundreds of persons converged on the institution for the St. Maarten Innovations, Initiatives and Industries Link-Up Event (SMILE), surpassing last year’s attendance.
A total of 372 persons and 155 businesses and organisations were present either as speaker, having a table or being a “walk-around” for the event, surpassing the figures for the event held last year, when there were 69 organisations and businesses and 295 attendees.
Many attendees took the opportunity to visit one of the 29 master classes that were held to learn more about a range of topics from “From Brain Drain to Brain Gain”, to “The Future of Tourism” and “Doing Business in St. Maarten”, amongst a list of other topics.
A number of businesses and organisations were also on hand with booths displaying their products and services and giving information to interested persons.
St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) Executive Director Wyb Meijer declined to specify how much it cost the Association to put on the major event, saying only that the cost was “low” and the question on how much it cost as well as the cost itself had been “relative”; he also questioned the objective of the paper in enquiring about this.
He said the initiative had gone “above expectations”, noting that the amount of attention and number of attendees had been more than anticipated. “And this is great,” Meijer said. “We went over [last year’s figures – Ed.] so we very happy with that. The key theme for SMILE is being able to do things differently after [Hurricane] Irma, and to learn from each other’s ideas,” he noted. “I think we have been blessed,” he added, alluding to the significant increase in the number of visiting organisations and persons this year. “We are very grateful to the many partners who have been involved, some small and some large.”
For presenters, the experience was also a good one. Director and Co-founder of 360 Innovations, Bianca Peters said her session on “Think Big, Start Small and Move Fast” had been a success. “For me, a session is successful when people get inspired and walk away with new ideas for their own organisations. During the lunch, a lot of people came to me to ask more questions and I saw the sparks in their eyes. The fact they are still busy with the presentation even after other ones they visited, means I touched something. That is what measures success for me and that was the case today,” she told this newspaper.
Asked what she felt had been the most important information persons who attended her sessions took away, she said: “I believe it is the fact that people understand that those major technological innovations happening in the world also can have a benefit for organisations and islands.”
Emigration Expo official Tom Bey, who spoke on the topic “From Brain Drain to Brain Gain”, said, “A number of companies were interested in talent attraction of [students] from the island of St. Maarten in the Netherlands. The most important information [that persons took away was] that you need to open up to find talents and hire them. You need to develop new strategies, going outside the island as there are the future employees you can hire. Think and act internationally and use the traditional ties with the Netherlands to your benefit. Do not be shy. Be active.”
Project Manager for NPOwer (4C’s latest initiative) Melanie Choisy, who delivered a presentation on “Building Communities through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Collaboration”, said their presentation touched on why being a socially conscious company is important and the best ways to align one’s company with a non-profit/non-governmental initiative. “From the business perspective, you want your business values to align with community and national development goals and from the [non-governmental organisation/non-profit organisation] NGO/NPO side, organisations want to be able to channel potential resources where they are most needed, so any support, whether monetary, in kind or volunteering time, received from a corporate end can stretch that NGO’s mission further and effect more positive social change for our society,” said Choisy.
The “Building Communities through CSR and Collaboration” presentation was also hosted by President of the Foresee (4C) Foundation José Sommers and Programme and Development Manager for the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) Makhicia Brooks.
Choisy said following one of their presentations, “We had some really interesting conversations with our audience about the beauty of consumers today being tied to a brand, not solely for the product or service itself but because of that company’s efforts to truly tie in and connect to a community. The input and discussions that followed the presentation is how I gauge that it was well received, it resonated and was something truly beneficial to the SMILE event in general.”
“An example we gave was for companies to consider adopting a structured volunteering programme for their staff and how to choose an initiative that aligns with the company’s values. We also mentioned how NGOs/NPOs can further exercise their missions through a company’s in-kind – and not only monetary – support. We then gave examples of what avenues/sectors exist locally for a company to choose how exactly they see themselves giving back (i.e. education, environment, disaster relief, vulnerable groups, arts and culture etc.).”
Asked why this is an important topic at this point in St. Maarten, she said: “We have lots of really great NGOs on St. Maarten that do such amazing and necessary work for the betterment of our community. Similarly, we have a large private sector that has always been open to supporting these many community initiatives, but perhaps not always in the most creative or sustainable way, especially after Irma, where we see that many if not most businesses cannot feasibly give out financial donations in the same manner as before. It is therefore important for there to be more collaboration between civil society and private sector in order to ensure the future success of our economy and the strength and resilience of our island community.”
Choisy said their presentation left the audience with a newfound appreciation for the work of NGOs in St. Maarten and a renewed sense of what it means to truly collaborate for change.
She felt that the most important information that persons took away from their sessions is “the realisation that together we can achieve more for St. Maarten. Take, for example, the green movement we are currently experiencing. Most supermarkets and many businesses are moving towards eliminating single-use plastic and Styrofoam because it’s a win-win situation for consumers that don’t want to be so wasteful, companies who want to be more socially conscious and, of course, and most importantly, the environment. Without it even being a legal obligation, civil society and the private sector have effected positive change by reducing their contribution to the landfill.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/92026-372-delegates-155-businesses-and-organisations-at-smile
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