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BELTRAIDE, in partnership with the Office of the Prime Minister, today awarded 29 micro, small, and medium enterprises with $7,000 grants under the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project (BEEP), a national initiative funded by the CARICOM Development Fund. The project is designed to strengthen MSMEs through financial support, technical guidance, and business development training. BELTRAIDE’s Executive Director, Ishmael Quiroz, explained that BEEP serves as a strategic vehicle to help small businesses expand, innovate, and prepare themselves for larger opportunities both at home and across the region.
As part of the project’s mandate to discover, empower, and elevate promising MSMEs, BELTRAIDE has expanded its reach into rural communities to ensure equitable access. Quiroz noted that this wider outreach aligns with BELTRAIDE’s additional commitments undertaken in collaboration with government ministries and private-sector partners. Among today’s recipients was Kenima Williams, owner of Kenima’s Garifuna Cooking Class, who shared how the programme’s theoretical and business-development support helped her refine her operations and effectively utilize the SEED funding.
The project is currently in its third cohort, bringing the total number of awardees to 74 MSMEs, with hundreds more applicants seeking to join what has quickly become a transformational national opportunity for small business growth. Government officials say BEEP continues to be one of the most impactful support systems for Belize’s entrepreneurial sector, helping local businesses scale and positioning them to compete in regional and international markets.//
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