Daily Archives: June 23, 2017

Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc. (RACFI), the nations first franchisor of independently owned-and-operated rent-to-own stores, is hosting its annual Summer Retreat from June 21-25, at the Atlantis Resort in Paradise Island, Bahamas, giving franchisees, corporate personnel, and vendor partners a chance to relax, reconnect, and plan key initiatives for the rest of the year. We are excited to have seven of our vendors join us this year as our Summer Retreat sponsors, including top supporters Ashley Furniture, Whirlpool, and Sealy.

Opening day events on Wednesday included a Vendor Appreciation Reception at the resorts Royal Tower Overlook, and a Welcome Reception and Dinner sponsored by Whirlpool, held in the resorts Athletic Garden Center.

At todays General Session, corporate personnel will update franchisees on operational topics, marketing and advertising, purchasing, and franchise development. Our vendor partners will present an exciting buying show with some sizzling hot deals to end the morning. An owner roundtable discussion will start the afternoon, and a special onsite dinner tonight at the Royal Tower Deck will honor Eagle Club members who have achieved the RACFIs prestigious Franchisee of the Year award.

Each year, were able to share best practices with our franchisees and them amongst themselves. The ability to do so while having fun with our families makes the Summer Retreat unique, says RACFI Senior Vice President Cathy Skula. I cant think of a more relaxing place to do it than Paradise Island, Bahamas, and greatly appreciate our key vendors for help making it possible.

Tomorrow, attendees can enjoy a day of leisure in nearby Nassau or on Atlantis breathtaking grounds. Following a relaxing day at the beach, the Retreat will conclude Saturday night with a Farewell Reception and Dinner sponsored by Ashley Furniture that includes live music and dancing at the Ripples Pool Deck.

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Rent-A-Center Franchisees Gather at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for 2017 Summer Retreat - APRO RTO Headquarters

Canada will begin its road to qualification for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Halifax.

Canada Basketball announced Thursday that the Canadians will host the Bahamas on Nov. 24 at Scotiabank Centre to kick off the first phase of qualifying for the World Cup.

The Canadians will play home and away games against the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the first phase. The top three teams in the pool following move onto a second phase of competition against three new FIBA Americas opponents.

The top seven teams overall in the Americas Region will advance to the World Cup, which starts Aug. 31, 2019 in China.

Canada is currently ranked 24th in the world and eighth in the Americas Region.

"Canada Basketball is excited to begin our road to China by hosting our first qualifying game in Halifax," presidentand CEO ofCanada Basketball Michele O'Keefesaid in a statement. "The introduction of the new FIBA system allows us to showcase our national team to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast and put Canada on display as a world-class destination for international basketball events."

The Canadian Press

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Canada to start road to basketball World Cup against the Bahamas in Halifax - BarrieToday

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Bowl hosted its annual summer summit in preparation for the December matchup and it is expected that the fourth edition will continue the trend of creating an impact on the NCAA bowl season.

Various stakeholders of the event, including the Bowl Committee, ESPN Events, The Ministry of Tourism, the National Sports and Authority, delivered their reports on the previous matchup and expectations for the upcoming year at the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Summit.

Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Events, said his organisation has sought to create a symbiotic relationship between local and international stakeholders.

The Bahamas Bowl gives a chance to host two teams in a world-class destination, in a world-class resort, with world-class hospitality that is second nature to the Bahamian people. With the improvements we have experienced with the new field, the feedback from the teams last year was just tremendous.

The local team has done a wonderful job in really fulfilling fantasy. The Atlantis is second to none and we always see a wow factor look on the faces of the students, coaches, parents and support staff that comes. This would not be possible without the key stakeholders, to stage a game of this magnitude.

The Ministry of Tourism has been a tremendous part of what we have done in crafting it and really opening it up to the schools in the United States. These types of events arent possible if it is not a fair value exchange. Those dollars get ploughed right back into this economy and that is something that is very important to us. At ESPN, we televise it nationally, in millions of households and it also goes internationally to 40-50 countries. We have created a great platform here for a lot of people to benefit and those that participate benefit the most because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

ESPN is in year three of a six-year commitment since they added the bowl to its staple of events in 2015.

The bowl was acquired from Bahamas Bowl, LLC, which owned the inaugural game in 2014.

This year, the game is scheduled for 12:30 pm on Friday, December 22, in an effort to take full advantage of the long holiday weekend.

We are three years through our original six-year commitment as it relates to the bowl game and we are really looking forward to this being a long-term proposition, not just a six year one, Derzis said, From an economic standpoint we have been really pleased with our growth year after year - a 3$3.5 million direct impact in the Bahamas, about 2300 hotel rooms, during the course of the bowl so we are making a lot of progress and meeting a lot of the guidelines that we have planned.

Howard Karawan, President and Managing Director of Atlantis Paradise Island, said the event serves multiple purposes, including creating business opportunities and exposure for the Bahamas.

Exposure for a sporting event needs to be the icing on the cake and we get great exposure internationally. As important as exposure, or even more so, primarily is bringing thousands of visitors to the island and to Atlantis. Those visitors go back and tell their friends and family and that is really our objective and I think we share that objective with the ministry of tourism, that is to do events that brings business here because in the ends its dollars spent in the islands and getting people to experience our wonderful culture because word of mouth really is what drives tourism, he said, That is why we have made a commitment to the Bahamas Bowl moving forward because we see this as a long-term solid foundation at a time of the year that is not very busy. During the game and the week before is a slow time so its a perfect time for us to bring people here. But its not just about experiencing the Atlantis, but experiencing the Bahamas, integrating the cultural offerings in food, art and music because people arent coming here for an American experience.

Joy Jibrilu, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism said the game is transitioning into a staple of the Bahamian Christmas season.

One of the things I enjoy is listening to the players at the press conferences when they come down because they always mention that Its a dream come true, its a dream destination and that is the type of energy we want to hear and we want repeated. We reached 91 million households in the Untied States and the event has created great excitement because of the things that happen so we look forward to more of that taking place. We have had highly successful games in the past three years and we expect nothing less this year, she said, It is interesting to me to think that American football is becoming a part of the Bahamian Christmas and so in addition to Junkanoo and Christmas shopping, everyone is adding college football to it.

Jeffrey Beckles, NSA General Manager, the fourth edition of the Bahamas Bowl will come on the heels of a busy 2017 for Sports Tourism and the NSA will be ready with further improvements to infrastructure.

By the time the Bahamas Bowl comes around in December we would have hosted three regional events and three world events. That would given us a tremendous head start on the improvements we have committed too when we host this football game. We are happy to announce that we have just completed our brand new 6.5 acre open field in addition to the TAR. The original stadium has undergone a complete rehab so the team will have fill access to all fields. Every time you come to the Bahamas you will see some expression of our commitment to hosting these events.

Crowds of over 13,000 each year in Nassau have watched the only current bowl game played outside of the United States.

The inaugural game in 2014 saw WKU beat Central Michigan 49-48 in a memorable offensive shootout. In 2015, Western Michigan beat Middle Tennessee 45-31 and last year, Old Dominion held off Eastern Michigan 24-20.

As with the first three editions, the 2017 Bahamas Bowl will feature teams from Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference. For more information on the Bowl, visit BahamasBowl.com. The game is one of 13 postseason bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.

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Bahamas Bowl Hosts Its Annual Summer Summit - Bahamas Tribune

Public Service Minister Brenzil Rolle recently told Parliament that the public service increased by 6, 500 people during the last term.

NASSAU, The Bahamas, Thursday June 22, 2017 Just six weeks after coming to office, the Dr Hubert Minnis administration in the Bahamas has slapped a freeze on hiring in the public service.

The moves comes on the heels of damning revelations from Dr Minnis this week that the former Progressive Liberal Party engaged in a US$14 million wild hiring spree in the last five months leading up theMay 10general elections.

The Government issued a directive to the departmental heads this week that there would be no new hires in the public service unless it was absolutely critical.

A June 19 letter, issued by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service Elise Delancy and obtained by the Nassau Guardian newspaper, read: Please be advised that effective immediately, there should be no new hires or renewal of contracts except where there is a critical need. Under such circumstances, the approval of Cabinet will be required.

Delancy also stressed that the authority to appoint workers solely rests with the Ministry of the Public Service and the Public Service Commission.

Public Service Minister Brenzil Rolle recently told Parliament that the public service increased by 6, 500 people during the last term without any consideration given to whether the Government was able to pay them.

Every minister hired whomever they wished, at whatever rank they wished, he said.

Rolles charges were also backed by Prime Minister Minnis who added that contractual workers were also engaged in addition to permanent employees.

Between December 2016 and the 9thof May, 2017, 648 persons were brought on at a cost of $10,149,738.40. In April alone, 119 were hired at a cost of $1.9 million and in May, the cost of new hires was $2.5 million, he said.

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Cash-Strapped Bahamas Government Announces Job Freeze - Caribbean360.com (subscription)