Nedco gets new CEO

Julian Henry has been appointed CEO of the National Entrepreneurship Development Company (Nedco) with effect from July 1. Henry, who has been acting in the post since April, has more than 15 years experience working in the micro finance development sector.

He has worked in senior management positions in the financial services sector across the Caribbean including the National Development Foundation in Antigua and Barbuda, and at Caribbean Micro-Finance Company Limited (Microfin), developing systems and models to deliver financing and other technical resources to small scale entrepreneurs and micro enterprises that are unable to access funding and resources from traditional lenders.

A release from Nedco said that Henry’s experience in small-island markets such as Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada as well as T&T, will be critical in his role as CEO as the agency recently completed a corporate transformation exercise to more effectively deliver quality service, training and support to new and existing entrepreneurs.

A graduate of the University of the West Indies, Henry also has extensive training in micro finance management, project management, client relationship and leadership. He also has a certificate in training on preventing money laundering from the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.

Prior to his current appointment, he served as the chief operations officer at Nedco where he planned and implemented new processes and procedures for reviewing loan applications for the small and micro enterprise sector. He also played a key role in training staff to implement the new systems which have contributed to the improved performance of Nedco’s loan portfolio, deliver quality customer service and support for the sector.

The release said: “With the important role small and micro enterprises will play in turning around local communities and in job creation in Trinidad and Tobago, the board welcomes Mr Henry into this new leadership role in Nedco, and we look forward to working with him to achieve the new ambitious performance targets that have been set for return on assets, as well as improving the quality of service and support being delivered to our clients and communities across the country.”

Nedco is the government agency mandated to develop the small business sector. Established under the Ministry of Labour and Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Development in 2001, the agency is also responsible for managing the day to day operations of ETIIC (the Entrepreneurial Training Institute and Incubation Centre) and IBIS (the Integrated Business Incubation System). 

ETIIC and IBIS are community based government support programmes that provide management training and business incubation services to the small enterprise sector.