March 30, 2001 — The Virgin Islands Women's Business Center is sponsoring a three-day Economic Development Conference featuring guest speakers from the private and public sectors in the Virgin Islands, on the mainland and from other areas in the Caribbean. The event was organized in cooperation with the University of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center.
The conference will be April 19 to 21 at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort on St. Thomas. Titled "Expanding your business globally through trade and technology," it is the second annual conference organized by the local WBC.
Center Director Yvette deLaubanque said last year's event, which was held on St. Croix, drew about 200 attendees. "We were hoping for 300" this year, she said.
"We started up (plans for this year) right after last year's conference," deLaubanque said. Besides lining up an impressive list of speakers, the group printed up 5,000 brochures which it distributed to government agencies and through mass mailings. So far, response has been relatively light, but deLaubanque noted that last year many people signed up at the last minute.
Among a long list of speakers for the conference are Ariana Jalfren, president of Business Tree Network; Edwin Carrington, secretary general with CARICOM; Swinburne Lestrade, director general of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; Randy H. Smith, director, Trade Information Center, U.S. Department of Commerce; Maritza Soto, University of Puerto Rico; Edward Thomas, president and CEO of West Indian Co. Ltd.; and Diedre Guice, vice president, Oppenheimer Capital.
Topics on the schedule include:
– Regional and international trade agreements and their impact on business;
– Workforce development for the 21st century;
– It's all about capital — non-traditional sources;
– Technology for business expansion;
– Technology for the tourist trade;
– Cultural strategies for international trading — understanding world markets;
– Global investment strategies for business expansion;
– Eliminating discrimination and sexual harassment;
– Balancing work and family.
Participants can sign up for one, two, or three days. Cost is $85 for one day, $150 for two and $195 for three. A gala dinner honoring Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen will cap off the conference. Tickets for it are $120 a piece, $200 per couple. Or participants can sign up for the complete package, all three days plus the dinner, for a flat fee of $300.
The Virgin Islands organization is one of 93 across the country that are funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. It was created through a partnership between the SBA and the St. Croix Foundation and provides technical assistance, business training, counseling, mentoring and networking opportunities for business people, especially women, in the territory.
For more information or to sign up for the conference, contact either the St. Thomas or the St. Croix office of WBC at (340) 773-4995 or (340) 777-8883, or visit the organization's Web site.
