ORANJESTAD- Local entrepreneurs Vaughn Sams, of among others Mobile Delicious, and Jamila Bennett of BenLijf Partners are the new board members on behalf of Statia in the Joint St. Eustatius & Saba Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

In Tuesday elections, two out of three board positions St. Eustatius holds on the Camber of Commerce were up for grabs. Leonieke Zuidam from Stayeustatius, the third Board Member, will -for now- continue to be part of Statia’s represenation on the Board.

Postulated for the elections were Jamila Bennett-Lijfrock, Vaughn Sams, and Ebbie Schmidt-Hinds. Sams and Bennett-Lijfrock will now be replacing Carlyle Tearr and Ebbie Schmidt-Hinds. Schmidt-Hinds was already part of the Board, but as she was not reelected, she will have to step down in favor of the newly elected Board Members.

Election

Voting could be done on Tuesday morning between 9 and 12 at the Chamber’s office in Oranjestad. The result of the Board election was known shortly after closing of the voting.

In a short reaction, Sams said he was happy with the outcome. Sams also said there is enough work to be done, to make the Chamber a more effective instrument for the Business Community on the island. “I think there need to be much more communication with the members, I would like to see the Chamber provide more support to local entrepreneurs and more gatherings”.

Sams also said he felt the Chamber should work on creating a betters network among the various ministries in The Netherlands, and especially with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZK).