Conference, Coalition Aim to Create Jobs in Haiti

Is Haiti open for business? According to 200-plus participants of January’s Restore Haiti 2014 conference, including California businessman Randall Gusikoski, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

The key is to say “no” to “harmful charity” and a donation-based economy and instead link arms with Haitian businesses, building on their competencies through training and mentoring.

“We have to stop looking at them as charity cases, and look for ways for them to provide goods and services,” said Gusikoski, owner/investor of Borg Holdings and Nextfort Ventures, Inc.

“The question is, how can we help local Haitians make a profit? What can we do to train them to be more valuable in the economic society?”

The Restore Haiti 2014 conference was sponsored by “100,000 Jobs Haiti,” an initiative of Partners Worldwide and a coalition of Haitian businesses and nonprofits. Their mission: “to build the capacity and capability of existing Haitian businesses, create new strategic businesses, encourage local purchasing from all Haitian businesses, and transform Haiti’s largest cities.”

The conference connected North American and Haitian business people to explore business opportunities and partnerships with the ultimate purpose of creating jobs.

Attendees ranged from American investors looking to invest in companies locally to Haitian professionals looking to expand their network of partners and investors. All present had the goal of helping rebuild and restore Haiti, one job at a time.

The first day, all participants met at the Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince for plenary speakers, workshops, and networking.

North American attendees spent two more days visiting local businesses in Port-au-Prince to understand more about the local context and opportunities, and visiting Club Indigo, a resort on the coast where they learned more about the opportunities and realities of investment in Haiti .

Gusikoski was impressed with the quality and commitment of the Haitian business professionals he met. “Some of the businesses we visited with were pretty professional,” he said. “We saw really hardworking people.”

The native Canadian, now Californian businessman’s path to Haiti was unexpected. “Haiti was never on my radar,” he said.
Several years ago, he began to explore the possibilities of using his spiritual gifts and business acumen to serve Christ. “I wanted to be more personally involved than sitting on a board and writing a check,” he said. ”I liked the leverage of what dollars could do in a third world country, and I wanted to create growth and economic development without handouts.”

A year ago, Gusikoski connected with Partners Worldwide, an alliance he says is “a perfect fit.” Partners is an affiliated agency with the Christian Reformed Church.

Gusikoski attended the 2014 Restore Haiti conference with the intention of learning where he could serve. Currently, he’s working with Partners Worldwide staff and students from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, to develop solutions to connect non-profit organizations with local Haitian businesses.

The goal: non-profits would purchase locally and support the economy rather than harming it by shipping in foreign, donated goods.

“I heard story after story in Haiti, of churches and organizations wanting to do something good,” he said. Often, people’s good intentions have backfired, and the very population they wanted to serve ended up worse off than before.

“One story: A non-profit from Europe shipped four sea containers filled with hand sanitizer to Haiti in hopes of helping stop the spread of Cholera,” he said.

 “Meanwhile, a Haitian company that produces hand sanitizer sees sales drop because no one wants to buy the product when they could get it for free."

Purchasing the product in Haiti would have supported the local economy, sustained Haitian jobs and injected capital where it was really needed.

Looking forward, Haiti’s future is brightening. Partners Worldwide, the “100,000 Jobs in Haiti coalition,” and friends such as Gusikoski, aim to help create 100,000 jobs in the country by January 12, 2020, one decade after the earthquake that shattered so many lives.

Employment and dignity will be cornerstones in the effort to rebuild and restore.

“Haitians deserve to feel the pride of earning an income and providing for their families,” Gusikoski said.