Traders in St. George's and Sandys Parish can expect to receive a helping hand during these tough economic times with Economic Empowerment Zones (EEZ) set to be rolled out across both ends of the Island during the next two years.

That is according to Erica Smith, director of the Economic Empowerment Zone Agency, who revealed that approximately 80 percent of around 170 business in the North East Hamilton EEZ had taken up some form of financial assistance or advice for the Agency.

In an exclusive interview with The Royal Gazette, Ms Smith that there is a big demand for the initiative from business owners in St. George's, while their counterparts in Sandys are looking forward to seeing what advantages and benefits the scheme will bring to them when it reaches the West End.

"With St. George's, I feel as if we have people knocking on our doors on a daily basis and so I think the plan of action is to move forward on that front with the economic situation being felt much more from them," she said.

"In Somerset, businesses are more focused on the local market and the people who live around that area and patronise their shops, but in the East End they have positioned themselves more to focus on the visitor experience, however, in these tough economic times they are going through, the process is to say: 'How do we position ourselves in the future?'"

The EEZ office opened its doors at 30 Union Street in December last year, followed by an official event to mark the opening in April, with a client open house set to be held this Friday.

Ms Smith has been working tirelessly with Roxanne Christopher, EEZ Agency business development officer, meeting with clients and being on hand to give out information.

"I think we are great as a resource and first point of contact for businesses and stakeholders in North East Hamilton who want to get access to advice and our products," said Ms Smith.

"It is important to have a presence in the area that you are trying to provide assistance to."

The EEZ Agency has been holding a series of meetings, focus groups and face-to-face discussions with businesses in the West End over the past year and speaking with East End stakeholders since June, as well as conducting surveys into setting up EEZs in both ends of the Island, with plans to make recommendations on the West End to the board of the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation within the next month before they are passed on to Finance Minister Paula Cox, with submissions to be made for the East End early to mid-2010.

"The West and East End are going to be different from North East Hamilton because they have similar issues, but they also have different issues," she said.

"In the East End there are a number of factors to consider, including heritage preservation, tourism and cruise ships, and to date that has been a pretty exciting process and project."

In April, the EEZ Agency completed the design competition for the two major gateways into North East Hamilton — at the corner of Victoria and Court Streets and between Till's Hill and Court Street and has been working out the budget for the project and in consultation with stakeholders and the Corporation of Hamilton since then, with plans to start implementing it in the middle of 2010, according to Ms Smith.

She said the Agency has also been developing its land use strategy over the past few months and intends to submit detailed plans for the House of Assembly to consider when it reconvenes in November. The EEZ Agency currently offers a number of products to businesses in the Zone, said Ms Smith, including a grant programme award of up to $10,000 per business or stakeholder who applies for a specific project such as drawing up a business plan, marketing and public relations or accountancy services, with a total of 14 grants and $90,000 in grant money handed out since its launch.

Other initiatives range from an interest-free loan up to $10,000 for items such as additional inventory or hiring seasonal workers during busy periods, to be paid back over one year, with eight loans and $65,000 in loans given out since its inception; through to customs duty deferment to help out property owners, businesses or individuals who want to carry out redevelopment projects or renovations to bring in goods or materials from overseas, with payment deferred by up to five years and the opportunity to successfully complete the work and build up their revenue base in the process.

It also has a partnership with the Bank of Bermuda HSBC and Butterfield Bank offering preferential rates and terms to EEZ stakeholders.

Ms Smith said the EEZ Agency is two years into a 10-year project to set goals for businesses in the Zone, to assist them in achieving those objectives and to leave strong community associations and businesses to be self sufficient in running the area in the future.

Over the next financial year, the Agency plans to cover a number of topics in meetings held for its stakeholders, including safety and security, and workforce issues, access to resources and financial planning assistance using experts in their field, in addition to the out reach programme encompassing a loan and grant seminar held at the Bermuda Industrial Union between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. today and a quick books session on doing accounts, a customs duty and payroll tax briefing in October, and financial matters discussion further down the line.

To find out more about the seminars or for further information about the EEZ contact 296-4339.