As part of The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) corporate social responsibility (CSR), COCI organized a series of Entrepreneurship presentations geared towards secondary and advanced vocational educational institutions. COCI desires to foster an entrepreneurial culture among the youths within our educational institutions.

The Chambers’ Business Development Officer, Ms. Bryson has reached out to all schools on the Dutch side to conduct our Entrepreneurial presentations from Sept 2021 – March 2022. This year’s theme is “Redefining Entrepreneurship”.

During the Chambers’ presentation, students will learn the importance of entrepreneurship and its elements of innovation, sacrifice, and determination. Additionally, the role of the Chamber, the various types of legal entities, and the steps needed to start a business on St. Maarten are also presented and explained. The Chamber aims to maintain these presentations yearly, as well as, develop other youth programs where students can showcase their creativity and novelty ideas that they may be future contributors to our country’s growth and development

Institutions that have received presentations during our presentation include:

• St. Maarten Academy, 68 students
• St. Maarten Academy PSVE, 88 students
• MPC High School, 20 students
• Vocational School, 18 students
• LU High School, 30 students
• CIA High School, 10 students
• Sundial High School, 38 students
• National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA), 15 students
• St. Dominic High School, 50 students
• Charlotte Brookson Academy (CBA), 19 students
• Mac High School, 54 students
• University of St. Maarten (USM), 8 students