The Social Development Commission (SDC) will be establishing two additional Economic Villages as part of its ongoing mission to support and empower Local Economic Initiatives (LEIs) across Jamaica.
This will bring the total number of Economic Villages to nine by the end of fiscal year 2025/26.
The new villages will be established in St. Elizabeth and St. Thomas, joining existing hubs in St. Catherine, Portland, St. Mary, St. Ann, Trelawny, St. James, and Manchester.
Director, Local Economic Development at the SDC, Avril Ranger, told JIS News that this reflects the Commission’s commitment to continuous growth and is directly informed by stakeholder feedback gathered through its Local Economic Development Support Programme (LEDSP).
“We used to normally do business fairs; we would enter a community and have an activity and then move on. We had a discussion internal to the SDC and we said we need to have more established spaces where LEIs can go on a continuous basis to promote their products, benefit from sales and engage in networking,” she said, adding that the Economic Village concept later emerged. Click here to view full story from JIS