Jerome McCoy	Shushanna Marshall	Franklyn Smith
Dilcia Hulse	Raldo Seymour	Mike Adam
Keith Cupid	Barnaby Richardson	Delicia Ebanks
Lindo McGowan

By Kevin Shereves
Kevin@caymannetnews.com

Jerome McCoy
The Government should be focusing more than they do on helping local businesses. At the end of the day it is the small businesses that continue to struggle through economic hard times. They are the ones that are buying from importers and paying rents and utilities, and they are the ones that are keeping the local economy going. Small businesses continue to support the government by paying high import duty, but the government is not doing much to help small businesses in return. It makes sense for Government to invest more in small businesses. The core of any economy is based on the established small businesses, because they play an important role in the economy and must not be overlooked.

Shushanna Marshall
I believe that the government needs to support the small business community in the Cayman Islands. Many local companies have laid off a number of their employees including Caymanians. It does not serve the people of Cayman well to have such a high rate of unemployment. Most people want to work, but there are not enough jobs for them especially when so many small businesses are having difficulty keeping their doors open. If offshore companies have to lay off their employees, both foreigners and foreign companies can relocate and open offices elsewhere, but local businesses have nowhere to go. The government puts so much effort in recruiting overseas companies, but I think that local businesses needs a lot more Government support.

Franklyn Smith
It does not matter who the government brings in, as long as they put measures in place to help small businesses. They need to assess how small businesses are faring during this recession and implement measures which will assure their survival. Government needs to look internally before they look externally in order to solve problems in the domestic economy. Many small businesses are in the process of closing down because the cost of doing business is too high. Work permit and import fees are stifling many local small businesses. I would encourage the government to do a survey of all small businesses today to ensure that those businesses are able to keep their heads above water. The bottom line is that no country can survive by themselves. We must also work with foreign investors to ensure our survival. No man is an island, and no man stands alone.

Dilcia Hulse
The logical thing for Government to do is to help out the small businesses because it helps to create jobs and will ultimately lead to a better economy for the Cayman Islands. The government needs to first invest in its own people. If the Government continues to invest in overseas companies, they are, by default, creating jobs for foreigners. The government needs to invest more in local people and in local businesses. If more opportunities were created for local businesses, it would lead to a brighter future for the people of the Cayman Islands.

Raldo Seymour
I think that the Government should focus more on local businesses. Yes, they can still bring in the foreign investors, but they must make sure that they look out for the local businesses first. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. There are many foreign investors here now, but it is mainly the small businesses that are in the hole. The government needs to start paying attention to our local small businesses first and foremost. I have personally seen a lot of businesses in West Bay close their doors because the Government was charging them so much in the form of import duty, and they could not prosper enough to remain open.

Mike Adam
A part of our Government mandate is to strengthen small businesses. It is in our interest to do so and it is a part of our manifesto. We have a set of initiatives geared towards helping small local businesses that are struggling. We will partner with those seeking to start a new business and we will assist them in setting up their business and help guide them through the immigration process. For those who are having issues with their existing businesses, the government is committed to helping them as well.

Keith Cupid
Yes, I do believe that the Government should do more for Cayman’s local small businesses. They are definitely struggling and in need of support. Most small businesses are owned by locals, and Government should pay more attention to them because a little help might allow businesses on the brink to stay on their feet. I think that the Government should start putting more effort into helping those businesses because they are very important to our local economy. The Government should realise that the public opinion is important and support the people who elected them to power.

Barnaby Richardson
Where is the initiative for small businesses to grow? I think that Government should create some form of incentive to better promote the growth of small businesses. If we consider that, the increasing cost of business is hurting many small businesses, we need to look at a more sustainable economy for the future of the Cayman Islands. If we want to be an international financial services centre we need a strong mixture of Cayamnians and Expats but we need to strike the right balance. We need foreign investment, but we need to ensure prosperity for local businesses as well.

Delicia Ebanks
I think that the Government is more focused on selling out the country than they are about helping local small businesses. It is mostly Caymanians and permanent residents who are the small business owners. Very little is being done to help local businesses but that needs to change. We also need to train more Caymanians and develop them so that they can get the top jobs. We have families and children and we must ensure that their future is secure. There are many people who have lost their jobs because of the downturn in the economy, and they have now returned to their home countries but as Caymanians we have nowhere to go. Therefore, Government must train us and develop us instead of looking outside for foreigners to do the work that we can do ourselves.

Lindo McGowan
I think that the Government should focus more on helping local small businesses especially during these very difficult economic times. Eighty-five percent of all small businesses in Cayman are suffering but Government is doing nothing for them. I had a little clothing store, but I could not keep it going because the Government was not on side with me. I was not getting the assistance that I needed from Government, so I had no choice but to close up the shop. I think that Government should prioritize small businesses, but so far they have not done that. Government says that they are in support of small businesses, but they are not helping local small businesses here in Cayman.