Today, BELTRAIDE and the University of Belize held a ground-breaking ceremony at the University's of Management and Social Science campus in Belize City.
They're building a new facility called the Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute, or BEI2 - a moniker which seems meant to be both catchy and cool, but is neither. The building, though, will be thoroughly modern: in fact it is called Government's first green building, constructed with energy efficiency and low environmental impact in mind. That means it will be outfitted with solar panels, and energy efficient air conditioning systems.
It's envisioned as a hub for enterprise research and innovation, where entrepreneurship, innovation and business development will be fostered.
We stopped by and spoke with the facilitators about the need for such an initiative within the University:
Stephanie Daniels-Moody, Public Information Officer - UB
"The Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute or BEI2 proposes to be the hub where this interaction is nurtured and where research and teaching accelerates the creation of new products, new companies, new jobs and increase economic opportunities. The University therefore is committed to this project and all it will do for the growth of Belize."
Harrison Pilgrim, Chairman, Board of Trustees - UB
"Today is the first say in the start of a new journey, a journey that may not be without its challenges, but one that will nevertheless deliver value to all of us."
Mike Singh, CEO - Ministry of Trade
"We started looking this is an anchor. So the BEI2 facility which I am not so sure that will be the long term name, so don't get too use to writing that down. Because I think we need to 
look at how we name things in Belize, but that's a whole another story. But that facility really is designed to become an anchor for what should become an innovative campus. An entire campus where business and academia, the private sector represented through enterprises also represented through government through BELTRAIDE can all interact with ideas and be able to collaborate. Because we are hoping that this will become a hub where businesses can also come in and look for talent and look for new ideas and that is something again that I found missing within the mix of how we develop our country. Often we forget to bring in private sector into education and I am hoping that we can become that link, so that the relevance of education being put out at our tertiary institutions can then be tested."
BELTRAIDE will move two of its technical units, EXPORT BELIZE and the Small Business Development Center into this building.
It is expected that the construction will be completed in 8 months.
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