Former parliamentarian Loretta Butler-Turner has been appointed as a consultant to the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC).
During a weekly press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister Mrs Butler-Turner who stepped away from politics after an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Free National Movement prior to the 2017 general election, confirmed that she had accepted the consultant position on the invitation of Prime Minister Philip Davis. Mrs Butler-Turner said that it was a privilege and an honour for her to have
Mrs Butler-Turner said that having stepped back from frontline politics she felt she could still make a difference in the country by helping to build the lives of persons from an entrepreneurial standpoint.”
“Over the last four and half to five years my life has been truly devoted especially to young people in making them more self sufficient in their dreams and expanding our economy. I was delighted to be invited to this particular position because I believe small and micro businesses and self employment is truly what we need in The Bahamas when we talk about inclusion,” said Mrs Butler-Turner.
She added, “I am so proud of the fact that people would say that most Prime Ministers would choose people who are party supporters and persons in their advisory. I am so glad that as a Bahamas, as a nationalist, the Prime Minister saw what I was doing, appreciated it saw that I can probably be a very good fit for the dreams of the PLP and new day government in expanding our economy and most importantly for entrepreneurship.”
Butler-Turner noted that she has a strong passion for women in entrepreneurship. “One of my mandates is to ensure that women in particular are given the ability to build their own businesses. The majority of our households are ran by women. So many workers have been displaced from their jobs, displaced from their homes by natural disaster Hurricane Dorian but have a lot of latent talent and ability to be creative and do things on their own. We have seen a plethora of growth in that regard and we want to be able to help direct that,” she said.
The SBDC was launched under the Minnis administration in 2017 through a partnership of the Ministry of Finance, University of The Bahamas, and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation.
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