Guinea Grass man’s small business gets big recognition

A resident from Guinea Grass Village has received regional recognition for uplifting himself and his family by starting a business. In 2008, Javier Basto started selling plantain chips to his friends and neighbors; he now owns the Basto & Sons product line, which includes cassava chips and churros. The small business made a hundred and thirty-six thousand, five hundred dollars last year and has earned Basto the 2012 Citi Micro-entrepreneurship Award for the Caribbean. The awards program has three goals: to raise awareness about microfinance; to build awareness about the important role micro-entrepreneurs play in their local economies; and to develop the next generation of microfinance networks. Along with a plaque, Basto received six thousand dollars to invest in his business, which was built with the support of La Inmaculada Credit Union. He traveled to Barbados at the end of September to for the award ceremony and News Five has received a short feature on his business, which was distributed by the Caribbean Microfinance Alliance. 

Javier Basto

{Feature on Citi Micro-entrepreneurship Awards…}

The trip to Barbados was Basto’s first time leaving Belize. The Citi Micro-entrepreneurship Awards are financed by the Citi Foundation and administered by the Caribbean Microfinance Alliance (CMFA) and the Multi-lateral Investment Fund.