The opening of the new Business Incubator Centre and Agro-Processing Facility in Region Nine is creating massive opportunities for small businesses across the Rupununi.
Vanessa House-Khan, who runs Diva Herbal Teas, a traditional medicinal tea line, is among the many entrepreneurs benefitting from the facility.
House-Khan recalled having many challenges in accessing essential services to expand her unique brand.
Her product completely transforms locally sourced herbs grown from the Rupununi into marketable products, and has steadily grown since joining the Small Business Bureau in 2023.
“Sourcing essential services is quite hard in the region. Even the labels I would have printed, I would have to go over the border or to the neighbouring communities to get what I needed,” she noted.
Now, inside the new facility, her products can move through every stage of production, from washing and dehydrating the freshly picked leaves to packaging and eventually labelling with her signature branding, free of cost.
“Now that we have this space, I only hope that I don’t run out of raw materials to be processed. So I’m very pleased to see that we have a spacious, safer environment to produce,” she said.
With access to modern machinery and support services delivered through the Small Business Bureau, House-Khan can now scale up her business far more efficiently while keeping production close to her village.
House-Khan currently produces nine different herbal tea flavours, including lemongrass, cinnamon, mango leaf, stone breaker, congo palm, saint John’s bush and daisy teas, with hopes of introducing more products as she promotes a healthy-conscious diet to consumers.
Beyond supporting individual businesses in the region, she believes that the facility has the potential to strengthen economic partnerships across Guyana by creating new opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs to collaborate and grow.
“This facility encourages growth. It encourages partnership and linking,” she noted.
The Business Incubator Centre offers entrepreneurs training, business advice, access to markets, and chances to develop new products without the costs of buying industrial equipment themselves.
For entrepreneurs like House-Khan, the government’s investment in developing this facility signals a transformational turning point in Region Nine.
“We’re thankful for the services here,” she said, adding that the opportunities now available in Lethem will help small businesses move closer to becoming competitive manufacturing enterprises.
