Over 170 students, along with 22 teachers from 29 schools across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) were exposed to information designed to enhance their skills in business innovation and development of effective business plans during a workshop which the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) hosted on 12 November.{{more}}

The interactive workshop was one of the fringe activities of the Financial Information Month 2014 (FIM), which was marked throughout the ECCU in October under the theme: “Soar to Succeed.” The theme highlights the message that one has to rise above the ordinary to achieve success by going beyond ordinary commitment, vision, skills, efforts and actions.

The workshop, which particularly targeted secondary school and community college students, was geared towards assisting the students with crafting their entries for the 2014 ECCU Business Innovation Contest, which the ECCB has been hosting since 2012.

It was also designed to encourage students to think innovatively and formulate ideas that would help augment the development of their communities.

Marcus Purcell, an independent marketing consultant and a certified dinancial educator from Grenada, facilitated the workshop. Areas covered by Purcell during the workshop included: the Viability, Desirability and Possibility (DVP) Framework of an innovative business idea; Marketing of a business idea; Value Proposition; Competitive and Financial Analysis; Management Team for a successful business idea.

Purcell also exposed the students to a framework for developing business plans, which would help supplement their business skills.

The majority of the workshop participants described the session as useful and said that the information presented would help them in developing their business plans for the ECCU Business Innovation Contest.

The workshop was held at the ECCB Headquarters, St Kitts and Nevis and transmitted via videoconference to the other seven ECCB member countries.