The Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD) has been making strides over the years to grow with Guyana’s nascent oil and gas sector and now, the Centre has been ISO 9001:2015 certified.
The Centre’s journey to ISO 9001 began back in October last year. Six months later, having conformed with the requisite standards, became officially certified.
The certification focuses on the core of CLBD and its services – capacity building and training for Guyana’s oil and gas sector.
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Dr. Natasha Gaskin-Peters, the Director of the Centre, at a ceremony on Friday to commemorate the milestone said CLBD was merely “leading by example” – showing the companies under its bracket the importance of operating at the highest standards.
The Centre’s core mandate is to assist local companies by strengthening their overall competitiveness and to better understand and leverage rising opportunities in not only oil and gas, but other sectors. It also provides mentorship for local enterprises aiming for the ISO 9001 certification. But embarking on the ISO 9001 journey, according to Gaskin, revealed that the CLBD still had “gaps in its system.”
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“But we worked with the auditors, did our internal audits and implemented the systems needed to resolve those gaps. Now I am proud to say that we are ISO 9001 certified,” she told the gathering.
Rae-Dawn LaRose, the lead auditor and consultant who provided support to CLBD on its ISO 9001 journey remarked that the achievement is a strong indicator that a business is well-run and credible, minimising the need for lengthy due diligence.
“It denotes that quality is valued and can be depended upon in all facets of the company,” she added.
The CLBD has worked with over 25+ businesses since being established in 2017. Within that period, 14 businesses have received ISO certification, 11 are compliant with the ISO standards and the remainders are currently going through the process.
The CLBD has also registered over 5,100 firms on its supplier portal, held over 4,500 oil and gas seminars and delivered over 310 enterprises with Health, Safety, Security and Environment programs. These are made possible through funding from ExxonMobil’s Greater Guyana Initiative.
