$25,000 BEDC grant<\/a>, said: \u201cThe BEDC has been a big part of it all \u2014 I will have been in business for three years on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\nShe was among an informal \u201cclass of 2023\u201d in the BEDC Enterprise Bermuda incubator programme, with the founders of other companies such as Off Grid RV Co and Lacquered Lounge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all studied together, and there\u2019s a few of us still going strong. It helped a lot by bringing us together so we could network \u2014 networking was a big part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Crockwell said the BEDC brought together a combination of like-minded people whose businesses were at different stages of advancement, and provided courses in key topics such as marketing and accounting.<\/p>\n
She also honed her business acumen through events such as the BEDC Wave of Opportunity Pitch Competition \u2014 while the grant enabled her to purchase medical equipment that made \u201ca huge difference\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Crockwell added that the BEDC\u2019s own marketing and publications, ranging from newsletters and podcasts, provided valuable exposure.<\/p>\n
She said the assistance went beyond the island\u2019s high-cost environment \u2014 including help with the \u201clack of clarity when it comes to how you go about starting a business\u201d that would be difficult to tackle alone.<\/p>\n
Midway through economic development week, Erica Smith, the executive director of the BEDC, explained: \u201cThis week is a concept developed by the International Economic Development Council, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary \u2014 it\u2019s a membership organisation convening economic developers around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Bermuda, we wanted to highlight the role that individuals and agencies play in contributing to our development, which is an expansion on the island\u2019s economic development strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it\u2019s difficult for people to see the roles they play and understand the synergy that takes place, from foreign direct investment to tourism, transportation, workforce development \u2014 these are all key components of a healthy and thriving economy. Ultimately, it\u2019s about success for our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Smith said it marked the event\u2019s second year in action, to \u201ctell that story\u201d of how various groups \u201cwork together in collaboration as opposed to duplication\u201d, and spread awareness of their roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a BEDC perspective, our core work is focused on the key pillars of business retention and expansion\u201d.<\/p>\n
Simone Gibbons, the head of marketing, communication and events for the BDA, said the week\u2019s \u201cStronger Together\u201d theme reflected the varieties within participants\u2019 collective support of Bermuda\u2019s economic development.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cOur original thinking was that, during Global Economic Development Week, we would highlight the role each agency plays, so the local public has a clearer understanding of what we do individually and how we collectively support the Government\u2019s economic development strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Gibbons highlighted the Build Conference, which focused \u201cspecifically on infrastructure \u2014 is one of several pillars within that broader strategy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BDA was pleased to support its sister agency, the BEDC, at the Build Conference, convening industry leaders for a timely discussion on the future of hotel and large-scale development in Bermuda.<\/p>\n
\u201cLed by Marquis Caines, the BDA developed the panel and speaking framework for \u2018Building for the Future: Unlocking Hotel Development in Bermuda\u2019 and engaged partners from the infrastructure space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe panel was moderated by Andy Mielczarek, chief executive of Bermuda Commercial Bank, and featured Mac Slauson, of Performance Ltd, Jonathan Halata, of Island Realty Bermuda, and Chris Maybury.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscussions focused on the realities of development in Bermuda, including construction costs, workforce needs, logistics, access to capital and stronger industry collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Created: May 08, 2026 07:52 AM Stronger together: Tia Crockwell, of OnSight Optometry, credits the Bermuda Economic Development…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[178],"tags":[208476,79,69897,18,236,19,17,3622],"class_list":["post-475915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-bermuda-business-development-agency","tag-business","tag-business-enterprises","tag-eire","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-spotlight"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116543033528299326","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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