This life-changing project was focused on “micro businesses” dreamed up by young entrepreneurs operating in less than favorable economic and social conditions. What began early in 2021 as a simple sponsorship of RetailROI’s SuperSaturday event, evolved into a program that has not only provided economic opportunities in the interior parish of Clarendon, Jamaica but has the potential for far-reaching impacts across the globe.

Called the “JEDI Challenge” (Jamaican Entrepreneur Development Initiative), the mission is to teach and coach budding entrepreneurs in Jamaica how to successfully launch or expand their businesses as well as provide seed funding. To accomplish this mission, select members of the Parker Avery team built and delivered an intensive, eight-week course that covers fundamental elements of a comprehensive business plan. This is the second year of the JEDI Challenge program.

The Jamaican entrepreneurs (affectionately referred to as the “JEDIs”) ranged from ages 17 to early 20s. Their business ideas included a healthy candy company, a crochet apparel company, a poultry farm, a jewelry company, a lip-gloss company, and a soap manufacturer. The diversity of businesses and personalities among the JEDIs was an enjoyable mix as new learnings were discovered and applied to their personal business journeys. We were impressed by the resilience these six young people exhibited to persevere through intermittent connectivity issues, tropical storms, and flooding, along with balancing normal family, work, and school commitments.

To cram a lot of learning in a very short time, this course was intense. We met via Zoom weekly at night for eight straight weeks, and each week included detailed homework assignments. The business topics covered vision and mission statements, organizational structures, marketing plans, SWOT analysis, financial plans, and analysis of funding sources.

This was by no means an easy classroom experience. Our team of instructors (the “JEDI Council”) gave the participants honest, constructive criticism, which the JEDIs took with grace. We encouraged each of these young entrepreneurs to speak up and share their personal experiences as well as present their homework during class. They were all assigned a Parker Avery “mentor” who lent a helping hand outside of class with course content, homework, or just to provide coaching and motivation during this rigorous process. As a bonus, this year’s JEDIs were also able to hear from the inaugural JEDI 2021 class, who offered support, insight, and motivation to power through the tough times and continue to pursue their dreams.

The class culminated in the ninth week, where each JEDI was given 45 minutes to present their business plan in-person (and remotely) to a panel of judges, which included Greg Buzek, founder of RetailROI, several members of the RetailROI team, along with members of the Parker Avery team. An exciting and new twist this year, thanks to a more “normal” travel environment, was that two members from RetailROI and Parker Avery teams each were able to attend the final presentations in person. I was one of the lucky four who attended the event, graciously hosted by Clarendon College, in Chapelton, Jamaica. Also in attendance at the live presentations were members of the Fergus-Simpson Foundation (our local hosts) as well as several current students in the school’s own business program (and potential future JEDI participants), friends, family, and even two JEDIs from last year’s class.

After scoring the JEDIs based on pre-defined criteria (such as class participation, product marketability, profitability, and business plan completeness) and discussing the results, the judges determined two participants would receive the top funding award. One of the top award winners plans to launch a candy company focused on a healthy version of his grandmother’s candy recipes to address the Jamaican government’s new focus on reducing refined sugar consumption. The other top business is a female-owned poultry farm targeted at bringing affordable and ethically raised poultry to the local communities. Each of these two businesses scored well across all components of the evaluation criteria. And each again persevered through unforeseen technical challenges on the day of the finals due to precarious internet connectivity inherent in that part of Jamaica. Because of the quality and effort displayed by the remaining four JEDIs, the Parker Avery team also rewarded each with a “starter” funding award to help jump-start their businesses too.

A major highlight of the trip for me was the opportunity to spend time with these six entrepreneurs in person and see them in their home environment. It really brought home the impact of live, in-person interactions and how much the previous two-plus years stripped that from all of us. Witnessing the confluence of Jamaica’s beautiful interior countryside and mountains with the small parishes that are struggling to survive shows just how important this program is to these young entrepreneurs. This dichotomy underpinned their desire to better not only their lives but the lives of their communities too. The final highlight of the trip was getting to spend the day with one of last year’s JEDI participants who has grown his poultry farm with a combination of intense focus, high energy, and some of the key learnings from last year’s JEDI classes—all while maintaining a full-time job two hours away from his farm. This young entrepreneur truly represents the finest qualities of any successful person and makes an excellent role model for future JEDIs.

Each of the six participants—as did last year’s JEDIs—navigated through numerous personal challenges and conflicts to add our demanding curriculum to an already hectic school and/or work schedule. I am very thankful to work for a company that not only supported this initiative financially but also had a team of consultants who invested substantial hours of their “free” time and worked on this volunteer initiative with as much dedication as they would for any client project. It is truly a testament to Parker Avery’s leadership for being a firm that “does good when they do well” and lives by an ethos that makes me proud to represent them every day.

I am also grateful for the experience of working closely with my JEDI mentee throughout the class, as well as having the chance to help the rest of these bright young people work towards realizing their ambitions. The JEDI Challenge gave me the personal opportunity to see the world very differently during our quick trip to Jamaica and appreciate many small things for which we take granted here in the states. I very much look forward to watching these young businesses develop, as well as what next year’s JEDI 3.0 class brings to the table. If you would like to learn more about the JEDI Challenge or see how your company can get involved, please contact us.