The University of the Virgin Islands invites small business operators to a microloan workshop on Monday, March 9 on the St. Thomas campus.
An organizer working with the RT Park Community Impact Fund says enterprises supporting V.I. culture attending the workshop can hear about a program designed to help those taking part in Carnival 2026.
Impact Fund Executive Director Patricia Morris says the Monday workshop is the second outreach of its kind, building on the success experienced with vendors operating during St. Croix’s Crucian Christmas Festival. “We were established primarily to provide business loans for local entrepreneurs, local microenterprise owners and small business owners,” Morris said.
About 40 festival vendors attended the first workshop on St. Croix; many of those applicants were booth operators in Festival Village, but the director said all product and service providers are welcome to apply for financing from $2,500 to $15,000. Many recipients of Crucian Christmas Festival loans used their funds to buy inventory to stock the booths with food and beverages. Others used the loans to replace or upgrade equipment.
“There were a couple who were also requesting the funding … to be able to upgrade their booth (sic) in terms of their structure,” Morris said.
The Community Impact Fund was established in 2021 with the intent of giving entrepreneurs who may have otherwise been considered ineligible a chance to access credit. Those operators who have established credit histories for themselves are also invited to attend the March 9 presentation at the 13D Innovation Center, starting at 5:30 p.m.
The practice of offering small, short-term, low-interest loans began appearing in parts of the world as early as the 19th Century. Microfinance systems set up in the 21st Century have been described as tools to fight poverty. Researchers looking at the success and shortfalls of existing systems published studies of systems in India and Ghana.
Virgin Islands communities are probably familiar with the concept through participation in sou-sou clubs (also called partner hands), which are also popular in West Africa, she said.
The Impact Fund director said she had gained knowledge about the systems by working abroad. “Part of the work that I did before coming back home — because I’m from St. Croix — (sic) I did national development work and I worked with a few organizations that did have microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, in Eastern Europe, in Afghanistan,” Morris said.
A representative from the Tourism Department Division of Festivals is expected to deliver remarks at the event. Tourism Commissioner Jennifer Matarangas-King appeared at the first workshop on St. Croix.
