Movet Murphy, Raniel McGregor and Richard Durrant are the first three young school leavers to be granted loans under the Young Entrepreneurs Programme (YEP) announced by Prime Minister Bruce Golding during this year's Budget Debate.

"We are happy to provide loans to these budding entrepreneurs," said Frank Whylie, general manager of Jamaica National Small Business Loans Limited (JNSBL), at the cheque handover ceremony in St Thomas recently.

Whylie was speaking at the Morant Bay JNSBL office which will be providing technical support to the new business operators.

The YEP is a government initiative to provide 2009 school leavers, at the high school and tertiary levels, with training and access to financing for viable small-business projects. A total of $200 million has been made available through the Development Bank of Jamaica to microfinance organisations such as JNSBL, the Credit Union League, NationGrowth, Access Financial Services Ltd and Micro Credit Ltd to on-lend to the graduates.

Ready to receive

"We are hopeful that this demonstration will be a catalyst to other graduates to make use of the opportunity," Whylie said. "Graduates, particularly those who attended the business-management training sessions, can come in with their applications as we are ready to receive them."

A series of training sessions was held across the island, starting in June, providing more than 1,000 graduates with an orientation in starting and running their own businesses. The graduates also went through an entrepreneurship workshop to develop their business plans, which is the prerequisite for the granting of a loan.

"If there is a risk, I am willing to take it," Murphy said. "When you have your own business, you get respect."

Well-needed boost

Murphy, 17, got her loan to open a shop, while McGregor and Durrant, both 19, are starting separate chicken-farming ventures. The trio all live within commuting distance of Morant Bay in rural St Thomas.

Murphy, who plans to manage a retail enterprise, declared that she is going to "sell rice, flour, sugar, cornmeal, meat, milk, juices and sweets".

She plans to operate Murphy's Miracle Groceries from her home in Cheswick district, where she says there is no shop in the immediate vicinity.

McGregor's Chicken Farm is to be located in the Mount Lebanus Area on family land and will target consumers within the community.

Durrant, who has a similar micro-targeting concept to McGregor's, plans to rear chickens to serve residents of his community of Moffat district from Durrant's Chicken Farm located on family land.

"There is always a steady demand for chicken meat," Durrant said. "I think this will be a profitable venture."

Dorrian Lynch, JNSBL regional supervisor, said JN was confident the young entrepreneurs could manage their projects and loan obligations.

"All three of them have some experience in their respective ventures and should succeed if they apply themselves," he said.