How Financial Analyst Albert Voaden Is Giving Back to the Island He Now Calls Home

Albert Voaden didn’t plan to stay in the Cayman Islands for longer than 10 years. However, after some time, the Canadian financial analyst decided to make the most of being grounded in paradise. In the 18 years since, Voaden has made a name for himself as a financial analyst. With almost a decade of experience under his belt in real estate, banking and government agency work, Voaden has been able to develop successful approaches that have driven key decisions about financial strategy, acquisitions, and divestments.

And now, he’s helping give back to the community he calls home.

His career in the Caymans

After working as a financial analyst at DART enterprises and CIBC Cayman Bank, Albert Voaden took on a new role at the Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development in 2021. With a mission to help drive economic prosperity through lifting up small businesses, the center has played a crucial role over the course of the pandemic. To enable these small businesses to survive and thrive in their local communities, the center provides counselling and training, along with a variety of workshops led by experts to provide support and guidance.

In his role as a financial analyst, Albert Voaden has played an integral part in assisting businesses that were affected during a period of border closings. His role involves assessing local businesses’ plans to adapt to the new economic outlook and helping to determine the ultimate viability of their strategy proposals.

During the pandemic, the Center for Business Development also launched a new initiative to help revive the tourism industry in preparation for the reopening of the border. In an effort to keep businesses afloat, they created a grant program to help support boat charters and tour bus operators. Through his role with the center, Albert Voaden has ensured access to much-needed funding for business owners in these industries. Additionally, over the course of the year, he’s taken on the role of a mentor and guide for some businesses as well, assisting with small business training and providing tools to bolster business resiliency.

One of the small businesses Voaden has been able to make a particular impact on has been Peacemaker Charters.

Albert Voaden and Peacemaker Charters

Based in Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, Peacemaker Charters has been operating a beloved deep sea fishing guide and watersports chartering service for over 27 years. However, when the pandemic struck, tourism quickly dried up on the big island. Peacemaker Charters was one of the many businesses that reached out to the Centre for Business Development and Albert Voaden for help.

Voaden’s major projects with the Centre has been working directly with businesses to help provide guidance on innovations and financial support for those facing challenges. While he has worked with many local businesses over the past year, he was particularly struck by the dedication and passion that Peacemaker owner Randy Parchment showed for his business and livelihood. Voaden felt the need to go above and beyond for Parchment, and made a generous donation of $3,600 to help complete the funding needed for Peacemaker to reopen its business.

On why he decided to put his own money toward Peacemaker Charters, Voaden explained, “Randy has a longline family history of chartering boats in the Cayman Islands. I was happy to help top up funding for this company’s preparation for tourism coming back to Cayman”.

Albert hopes to continue helping small businesses like Peacemaker Charters in the new year. It has given him great satisfaction to help small businesses find their footing amidst a rocky start to 2021.