After a year preoccupied with organisational revitalisation and the formation of crucial strategic alliances, Jude Bernard, Chairman of The Grenada Coalition of Service Industries (GCSI), is optimistic about the trajectory of the umbrella organisation as it enters 2026 and beyond.
Since its relaunch in 2025, under the banner of GCSI 2.0 and the tag line “Transformation through Collaboration and Innovation”, the coalition hit the ground running, forming several functional subcommittees and signed important Memoranda of Understanding with 7 key local institutions and organisations as well as a historic MOU signing with the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI), “all in the aim of bringing more value to our budding service producers, in their quest to achieve export-readiness,” Bernard said.
Locally, MoUs were signed with the Grenada Development Bank (GDB), Grenada Bureau of Standards (GDBS), Grenada Investment Development Corporation (GIDC), T A Marryshow Community College (TAMCC), Grenada National Training Agency (GNTA), Grenada Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GCIC), and the Caribbean Coding Academy (CCA).
Building on its momentum from this year, the first quarter of 2026 promises to be a very active period for the coalition, with the revival of its Services Week (21–27 March), the return of its signature event, Services Expo (26–27 March), Grenada’s first ever Services Industries Award reception (21 March), which will ‘kick-off’ the week, as well as the return of its innovative virtual Career Day for secondary school students (24 March).
“For the remaining part of the year 2026, several new training and capacity-building initiatives are planned with a view to taking our fledgling service producers to the next level,” Bernard added.
Some of these initiatives will include:
- GATEWAY to Trade, an export capacity building and acceleration programme designed to strengthen trade promotion organisations, sector associations, and SME services firms to support the growth of services exports and enhance economic development
- Bridge to Brilliance, by DeVry University, is designed to strengthen talent pipelines across the region by supporting companies and employees who are seeking to upskill, reskill, and remain competitive in an increasingly digital and rapidly evolving economic environment
- Other activities in 2026 will include local training for stakeholders, as well as joint activities with strategic partners
GCSI
