Portal for Entrepreneurs in the Caribbean Launches Today

For the past seven months Entrepreneurial Advisors, Inc. (EAI) has been working with Entrepreneurs Portal of the Caribbean to develop what I like to call a "virtual entrepreneurial center." A major problem with providing entrepreneurial services to Caribbean entrepreneurs is that they are scattered over hundreds of islands in dozens of countries. The area generally known as the Caribbean is well over 1,000 miles in all directions and none of the Caribbean island nations have large populations. The solution is a portal that will provide a wide variety of entrepreneurial services remotely.


For over a year now, a handful of Jamaicans have been developing The Entrepreneurs Portal of the Caribbean (EPOC), but two people Neil Rhule and Corine LaFont have done the lion's share of the work. Funding for the development of the portal was provided by the Caribbean Export Development Agency and the European Union, but operation of the portal must come from sources generated by the portal itself.

About seven months ago Corine LaFont contacted me (Jude Conway) to ask if I would be one of the six resident experts on the portal. The expert's job is to write blog articles, conduct webinars and answer questions from entrepreneurs writing in. As I have found, it also includes other duties as assigned.

It is a great honor to have been selected as the only “resident expert” that resides outside of the Caribbean. What is really exciting about EPOC is that is continues to expand its services even before today’s launch. There is a on-site workshop scheduled for May in Kingston, Jamaica; an international business plan competition scheduled for late this year and a weekly radio show on Jamaican radio in the development stages. There are forums, new articles and even a page to place your classified ad.

For those of you living in the Caribbean, Guyana or Suriname, I urge you to register as a member as soon as possible at http://epoconline.com/. The rest of you can become members, as well. I am sure you will find value in joining and the great thing about the internet is it provides access to everyone whether in the Caribbean or elsewhere.

I have only touched the surface of what is available at EPOC. There are things that can be done at the site that I have certainly not discovered. I could go on for pages about what a great resource the portal will be for those Caribbean entrepreneurs who felt isolated in the past. This will act as their hang out where not only they can get expert advice but can communicate with each other, barter for services and tap each others knowledge and creativity.

I will end here but this is only the beginning, I am sure of blog posts you will see here about my experiences in the Caribbean.

Saw Mill Hollow Family Farm

I spent a wonderful afternoon yesterday at Saw Mill Hollow near Missouri Valley, Iowa. For those of you that have no idea this is located, it is about thirty minutes north of Omaha, Nebraska. I went there with Paul McGarvey of Chadron Capital for a business meeting with owner Vaughn Pittz and his son, Andrew. The first thing that struck was how we almost instantly felt like we were somewhere other than Iowa. Saw Mill Hollow is in the Loess Hills of Iowa one of the most unique geologic formations in the world and one of the more fragile. As its name infers the business is located in a hollow with hills surrounding it. The meeting room looked out over one of two lakes on the property. As we drove in we saw five wild turkeys in a field on our left. As we left, over two hours later the same turkeys were just leaving the field, slowly walking up a hill.


But there is much more to this story than its location for Saw Mill Hollow is the first place in North America to grow aronia berries, and all the berries grown at the farm are organic! Since starting this operation in 1991, Vaughn has talked other farmers in the region and elsewhere to grow this unique berry and has supplied each of them with the bushes they needed to get started. He now contracts back with these growers for the berries they grow. He and Andrew then produce extracts, tablets, wine, salsa, jam and other products from the berry. Saw Mill Hollow sells just the berries, as well. Currently, there are approximately 150 farmers in Iowa and surrounding states growing the berry.

So what’s so great about the aronia berry, also known as the black choke berry. Well first and foremost it has more antioxidants than acai berries, cranberries or blueberries. I’ve tasted the wine and the salsa and both are very good. Secondly, the aronia berry was native to the United States but was all but eradicated when the Midwest was settled. It was introduced in Eastern Europe decades ago and is widely grown and consumed in Eastern European countries, especially Poland and Russia. The Native Americans of the region long knew of its medicinal properties and there is an effort to collect this information.

The other great thing about the aronia berry bush is that it is a sustainable crop that’s roots grow far into the Loess Hills’ fragile soil to help hold it in place. This is much better than attempting to use the sandy hills for row crops or even grazing.

For the past five years Saw Mill Hollow has hosted the North American Aronia Berry Festival. It is held the third weekend in September and last year approximately 1,500 people attended. It is a weekend of experiencing products made from the beery, learning from speakers, listening to live music and visiting the dozens of booths that Loess Hills artisans have set up on the grounds.

Currently, Saw Mill Hollow products are only sold in the health foods section of select grocery stores and in health food stores in Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and Hawaii, but most of the company’s products can be purchased online at http://sawmillhollow.com/shop/. Restaurants, retailers or processors wishing to purchase product on a wholesale basis should contact Andrew Pittz at 214-924-4810 or Andrew@sawmillhollow.com.

Check Out I-review Your-Company

Recently, "I-review Your Company" befriended me on Facebook and at the same time sent me a message asking that I try his services. He reviews your company, product, book, movie, music or food. To try to establish his clientele he is, for a limited time  offering this service for free. I looked at others he had reviewed and also liked the idea that he was local (Des Moines, Iowa area). My new book, "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Understanding Angel and Venture Capital" had only been released ten days earlier so I thought I would try it to promote the book.

He posted a short but flattering review on Facebook along with information on where to purchase the book and its price. He also shared the blog that I had written with all of his Facebook friends, as well as those following him on Twitter. For the last several days he has been using the book cover as his picture on Twitter and another company's logo as his profile picture on Facebook. Finally, he wrote to me suggesting other ways that I might promote the book on social media outlets.

I don't know how long his services will be free. What I do know is that he increased traffic to my fan page and this will certainly lead to increased sales of my book, as well as consulting services I offer. I suggest that anyone, especially in Iowa that has something they wish to promote check out "I-review Your-Company" on Facebook or "IreviewYC" on Twitter. And good luck with what ever you're promoting!