News
Young Business Leaders Travel to the Netherlands For Providenciales Incubator
Turks and Caicos, April 19, 2017 – Providenciales – The presidents of the Providenciales Chamber of Commerce and the Young Corporate Alliance, Kyle Smith and Dominique Rolle, travelled to Eindhoven, the Netherlands on April 10th to April 12th, 2017 to partake in an Incubator Exchange Program facilitated by COSME, the European Union programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
A Business Incubator for Providenciales
The Young Corporate Alliance, a not-for-profit support network for local entrepreneurs 18-40 has advocated since its inception in 2015 for a business incubator on the island of Providenciales to provide affordable co-working office and creative innovation space for start-up businesses. The vision to establish a purpose built facility providing affordable office amenities, business tools and mentorship, financing and angel investment partnerships, networking opportunities and organic cross-industry exchanges was set into motion at Invest Turks and Caicos’Enhancing National Competitiveness Conference on September 1st, 2016. Whilst addressing the audience of hoteliers, investors, industry leaders, and public servants,YCA team leader Dominique Rolle proposed a public-private partnership to build the incubator in 2017. The proposal found immediate support from Invest Turks and Caicos, the Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, and private sector partners such as the Digicel Group and Grace Bay Resorts. A working committee was then formed in late 2016. That team has to date secured a physical location for the first phase of the incubator and the funds to renovate it. Having been made aware of this progress, COSME invited the young business leaders to participate in an Incubator Exchange Program in one of the world’s leading capitals for business incubation, technology, and creative start-ups: Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Incubator Exchange in Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Over the course of three days, Smith and Rolle exchanged incubator business plans, budgets, architectural designs, operational systems, inspirations, and short term and long-term goals with Maarten Hendriks and John Sandiford of the Founded By All Creative Business Hub in Strijp-S, Eindhoven.
Of this exchange, the Chamber of Commerce president Kyle Smith said, “Being guided by the Funded by All team through brainstorming sessions reassured us of our planned approach toward conceptual design of the space and practical operation of the incubator, its phased implementation, and eventual expansion. We intend to develop a state of the art facility equipped with the resources and tools to ensure greater development of local entrepreneurs and their ideas.”
The exchange also provided the Turks and Caicos delegation the opportunity to connect with innovative companies led by young entrepreneurs operating successfully within co-working spaces. A visit to High Tech Campus Eindhoven, one of the world’s leading locations for high-tech venture development and startup activity paired Smith and Rolle with teams of young designers developing self-driven vehicles, smart underwear, and muscle ultrasound technology. At Microlab, a co-working building for makers and creators, the TCI team met with its 26-year-old CEO, Luuk Visser who guided a tour of multiple floors of co-working spaces supporting a diverse range of over 100 companies.
Upon returning home to apply the knowledge gained during the exchange, Dominique Rolle said, “It came at the right time. We’re moving strongly through the design phase and from design to construction with a view to complete the first phase of the incubator in 2017. Our experience in Eindhoven was priceless in its generous provision of information, inspiration, and shared experiences from other young entrepreneurs and incubator founders. We’re excited to this vision become a reality.”
Press Release: Providenciales Chamber of Commerce
Young Corporate Alliance
#youngcorporatealliance
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
Company delivers fastest speeds nationwide and boosts service reliability
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS, APRIL 19th, 2024 – More connections, faster speeds and greater support for customers. This is the promise from communications and entertainment provider, Flow TCI, as it embarks on an initiative to provide households with enhanced connections, greater overall reliability and now, for the first time, speeds up to one gigabit person second.
FLOW TCI Country Manager, Joanne Missick shared: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen to our customers and want to exceed their demands, so we are focused on delivering unmatched value with customer centric products and services that are future proof. Flow subscribers on our Fibre Extreme package can now access up to one gigabyte speeds and subscribers on our Fibre Plus and Fibre Max package, as of April 1st, are also now benefitting from up to 5x more speeds.”
This is third speed boost for Flow customers in the last two years. This comes under the umbrella of the the Company’s recently launched “Working for You” campaign, where technicians are going into the neighborhoods across the island to conduct repairs, decommission copper cables, and increase the brand’s visibility in local communities.
“To date several neighborhoods have been served by technicians and the company will continue to go across the islands to ensure each neighborhood receives personal attention. We recognize that over the past few months some customers have experienced issues with the quality and delivery of our services. This is not what we stand for. Flow remains committed to providing technology and innovation
that enables growth and positively impacts lives”, says, newly appointed Head of Technical Operations, Simeon Thomas.
Thomas adds, “We have been closely monitoring and reviewing every aspect of our network and there is room for improvement across each of the islands. Where we find shortcomings, we are taking concrete actions and assigning our technicians to rapidly make all necessary adjustments and improvements for our customers”.
Flow has made significant investments in expanding and modernizing its infrastructure and delivering a more robust and reliable network paving the way for the country’s digital transformation.
For more information on speed increases visit https://www2.discoverflow.co/turks-and-caicos/price-adjustment-speed-increase on our website.
Thank you for your usual assistance in sharing our stories.
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