Small Business
Route of redress opened for 7M public beach vendors
(CNS): Cabinet has approved amendments to the Seven Mile Public Beach Park Vendor Policy that introduce a review process and provide an appeal mechanism for all vendor applicants. Officials said the revision aims to enhance transparency and fairness in the vendor permit application process. It allows applicants to request the reasons behind the decisions made […]
Group of rejected 7MB vendors take CIG to court
(CNS): Nine small business owners who were recently refused permits to trade on Seven Mile Beach have been granted leave to apply for a judicial review. The court has stayed the enforcement notices that were preventing them from plying their wares on the beach after just 34 merchants out of 120 applicants were granted licences […]
Fee waivers to remain in place for small business
(CNS): The government has announced that the fee exemptions or major discounts for micro and small businesses will not change next year. Owners will continue to pay either no fees or significantly reduced fees for trade and business licences in 2025 as part of the continuation of the Small Business Incentive Programme (SBIP), which began […]
New T&B applications shoot up in 2020
(CNS): There were 3,861 applications for new trade and business licences in 2020, a near 23% increase in applications for new start-ups from 2019. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Commerce and Investment (DCI) reported a significant increase in applications for both renewals and new business licences last year as people […]
Small business offered free gov’t office space
(CNS): The government is offering small businesses the chance of free office space and support for up to two years to encourage relatively new start-ups and entrepreneurs who have potential for growth. These business owners are being invited to apply to the Ministry of Commerce for a space on this residential business incubator programme and […]
Over a dozen vendors object to market closure
(CNS): More than a dozen regular sellers at the Cayman Craft Market and some intermittent users signed a letter objecting to the closure of the venue on 31 January, despite claims by the Tourism Attraction Board that a mutual decision had been made to close it. Just days before the TAB announced that the market […]
Craft market another COVID casualty
(CNS): The Tourism Attraction Board (TAB) is formally shutting down the Cayman Craft Market and looking for an alternative way of helping the vendors, as it becomes increasingly apparent that it will be a long time before cruise tourism returns to Cayman. The sellers at the market, given the location, were heavily dependent on cruise […]
Small businesses are not getting help
I am a Caymanian with a small business with two employees. I tried to get this (Cayman Islands Development Bank) loan. OMG what a nightmare! My business is service oriented so I don’t have any real assets. I buy clothes and jewelry and resell or make costume jewelry.
More business owners seek CIDB cheap loans
(CNS): The low interest loan programme offered by the Department of Commerce and Investment through the Cayman Islands Development Bank has seen a slight increase in applications recently, according to Premier Alden McLaughlin, who said that 65 applications with a value of CI$2.2 million have been made from the $5 million available. The cheap loan […]
Bank’s law is barrier to small business loans
(CNS): The law governing the Cayman Islands Development Bank appears to be a barrier to small businesses accessing low-cost government-guaranteed loans to help them weather the COVID-19 economic challenges. Some CI$5 million has been set aside to fund a low-interest loan programme through the government-owned bank but uptake has been very low. So far, only […]
Small businesses are suffering too
Mary writes: Tourism workers are receiving $1,000 per month to assist with personal living cost. Small retail businesses only received $1,000 per month to assist paying their business cost (store rent, CUC, water, healthcare for staff, etc). Store owners did not receive anything for personal living cost (i.e. personal rent, personal CUC, food, etc ).
