Hailed as a great success in all media outlets and, most importantly, by conference participants, the First Annual Mid-Year Conference, Economic Empowerment for the 21st Century, drew crowds numbering in the hundreds. The message was clear: women must empower themselves by harnessing available resources to positively change the condition of their lives and their families' as well. And based on the turnout, women are ready!
     
     Addressing issues impacting women of all ages, the St. Croix Foundation secured scholarships for twenty five members of Central High School and St. Croix Educational Complex chapters of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Provided by the Industrial Development Commission, Rotary Mid-Isle and The March Group, the scholarships gave the students a succinct overview of the keys to success. One student remarked that she was even offered a job at the conference!
     
     It is all about networking after all, and the conference provided an abundance of that. Almost every presenter underscored the strong correlation between business success and networking. Featuring representatives of private and government sectors, the conference outlined other key components of business success.
     
     While health issues may not grasp the attention of many entrepreneurs, presenters convinced participants that health care, drug and alcohol abuse and family violence are major impediments to economic vigor. Clema Lewis of the Women's Coalition elaborated, stating that employers, by becoming more sensitive to the needs of women in distress, can in fact help women break cycles of abuse.
     
     However, women may still face obstacles. The leading barrier for women in business is access to capital even though they open and maintain businesses at rates higher then men. Don Christensen, Associate Administrator for Investment, US Small Business Administration, outlined his division's programs which focus primarily on venture capital, remarking, however, that anyone in business must have a winning business plan and be willing and able to provide collateral funds. Other sources of funds were delineated by Pedro Cherry of Southern Energy and Dayton Watkins, Administrator of the Dept. of Agriculture, Rural Business Cooperative Services.
     
     During the open forum, Osborne Fleming, Chief Minister of Anguilla, spoke of his island's complete economic turnaround, attributing much of it to better education, a sensitivity for the importance of tourism, a favorable investment climate and its ability to provide much of its own needs such as agricultural goods. Dr. Simon Jones-Hendrickson, a professor of economics, lamented that in the VI we want tourism and not the tourists. Yet, according to him, a change in attitude would allow the VI to better recognize the multiplier effect tourism has - $1 spent by a tourist generates up to $4 in additional revenue.
     The conference concluded on Saturday with presentations on wealth management and technology. John Engerman of eKalaloo.com, told the audience that "it's up to us - the business community here in the islands - to really see the potential and take our businesses into the 21st century," using the Internet as the vehicle.