Students from various schools around the country were encouraged during a recent two-day youth conclave to consider cooperatives as a viable business model and to take advantage of the opportunities the cooperative movement will afford them.
Through the conclave, it was hoped the students would be exposed to the idea of developing a business plan, provide them training on the roles and responsibilities of a board of directors and allow them to look at regulatory matters for school cooperatives.
The Department of Cooperatives Development with the Bahamas Cooperative League, hosted the conclave at the Sir. Harry C. Moore Library auditorium under the theme "Accelerating Wealth Creation through Cooperatives" in keeping with the 40th anniversary of the cooperative movement in The Bahamas.
Students from S.C. Bootle High School and Central Abaco High School in Abaco, Preston H. Albury High School in South Eleuthera and Old Bight High School in Cat Island were in attendance.
New Providence schools were represented with students from St. Anne's High School, Queen's College, C.C. Sweeting Senior School, C.R. Walker Senior School, Doris Johnson Senior School, Aquinas College, Jordan Prince Williams High, and T.A. Thompson Junior High School.
As a result of the conclave, a competition was launched amongst the various schools to develop a viable business plan for their respective schools with cash prizes to be offered and used as seed money to promote, sustain and/or encourage the further development of the various school cooperatives throughout the country.
Addressing the students was Frank Lam, an agribusiness professional with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Miami, who spoke to the students on various topics including cooperatives entrepreneurship and youth in cooperative.
Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) Manager Lester Stuart and his team focused the students on developing a business plan towards school cooperatives. Cheryl Bowe-Moss, president of the Bahamas Cooperative League, spoke to the students on the role of the board of directors in the cooperative movement.
William Knowles, the financial controller of the Bahamas Cooperative League and Insurance Limited spoke on the role of the treasury and the importance of keeping accurate records.
Stephanie Missick-Jones, the general manager of the league, spoke to the students about the cooperative movement in The Bahamas from 1800 to the present date.
Impromptu presenters, Manuel Messina and Father B.J. Smith addressed the students and encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunities cooperative movement affords them.

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