News Release: Hamilton Bermuda – The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) in celebration of Bermuda’s Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises island wide, launched a public awareness campaign on Saturday.

MSME’s (Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) play a vital role in stimulating economic growth and providing employment for vulnerable groups in all communities.
Designed to encourage locals to shop in Bermuda the virtual campaign highlights MSME businesses across the Island.
Saturday, June 27 was International MSME Day.
The live launch ran from 11am-4pm on Instagram channel @bedcbda, in partnership with Danielle Paynter of the NAB App (@thenabapp) and some of Bermuda’s MSME’s, featuring live interviews with entrepreneurs who have done an exceptional job at pivoting their traditional business model and have made significant changes to adapt to the challenges that the COVID pandemic brings.
Viewers were given a live tour of the locations, to get to know the owners, and learn about a few feature products and promotions that the businesses have running.
“MSME Day was created to shine a light on and bring awareness to small businesses that together make a huge impact on the economy,” says Ray Lambert, Direct of the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises at BEDC.
“These businesses are sometimes overlooked because of their size but they are at the heart of the community. They are the are enriched with the culture of Bermuda, the smiling faces of local employees and the hard work or dedicated owners. It is because of this that these businesses should be celebrated; not just on MSME Day but every day.”
The Shop, Share, Support campaign also featured a chance to win $500 plus an additional $500 for the business patronized from last Wednesday, June 24 through to June 27.
Here is how it worked:
Step 1: Shop!
Starting Wednesday, June 24 – Saturday, June 27, shop at any local store island wide (ie retail, service, restaurant, personal care, local experience, etc).
Step 2: Share!
Snap a picture of your purchase and share it with us! Share your picture on Instagram and make sure to tag @bedcbda and the business where you made your purchase. The business tagged in the winning photo has a chance to win $500 too!
Step 3: Support!
Show your support by encouraging your friends and family to get involved. Tag a friend in your post and don’t forget to include the hashtags, #MSMEBermuda and #ChooseBDA.
The winning shopper and business were randomly selected and announced at 5pm on Saturday. We’ll have more on that story in a subsequent report.
“We are all facing challenging times right now, especially small business owners. We hope that this initiative will encourage the public to shop local, learn about businesses that they may have never visited, and spread awareness on the importance of supporting our MSME’s,” says Dennis Carter, Junior MSME Officer at BEDC.
This campaign took place island wide and all business types were included – ie retail, local online shopping, service businesses, experience businesses, etc.