Cayman Islands Chamber CEO Wil Pineau, CCE has made some final preparations for his trip to Eindhoven, Netherlands on September 19th, where he will also be joined by UCCI’s Dr. J.D. Mosley-Matchett.

Whilst in Europe Wil will be attending lectures and seminars about the development of business incubators in the hopes of sharing this information in the Cayman Islands, as well as touring some of the Dutch facilities and incubators currently aiding their local businesses.

The endeavour is funded by COSME, a European Union initiative that provides small-and-medium enterprises and business support organisations in British, Dutch and French overseas territories with the support they need. This support can range from investment and financial backing, to having a professional and experienced mentor provide your business with the advice it may need.

The information collected from this trip should enable the Chamber of Commerce to better understand the functions, best practices and organisation of business incubators, and allow us to consider developing our own such resource. Mr. Pineau will prepare a report for presentation to Chamber Council and Chamber membership upon his return.

Wil will also be reporting his findings back to the Chamber’s Community & Membership Development Committee, specifically the sub-committee focused on business incubation. The findings will provide the sub-committee with the fuel they need to achieve their goals to implement positive change and support for businesses in the Cayman Islands.

There will also be a 2-day workshop in October during which members of the COSME and CaribConnect initiatives will be in the Cayman Islands to explain business incubators in greater detail to local business and SME owners. The workshops will take place on 12-13 October between 5:30pm-7:30pm.