By VERNON CLEMENT JONES, Guardian Business Editor, vernon@nasguard.com

Marsalles Sawyer is reaching out and up for financial success.

"I want to take the almonds we have all over Nassau, in all these yards and on the side of the road and then (package) them for tourists," said the 22-year-old. "Not a lot of them, but just enough to get them a taste so they could see how almonds really look when they fall from a tree.

"It's a business I could really start out with."

While the actual harvesting would rack up little in the way of overhead costs — Sawyer, in fact, plans to pick the almonds — his packaging needs require some seed money, he said. "It has to look professional if the tourists are going to buy it."

Still, getting a backer to buy into the idea has proven to be his biggest stumbling block. It's a hurdle the government may now be prepared to lift out of his way.

Tomorrow, the Department of Youth and Sports will begin collecting applications from young entrepreneurs like Sawyer looking for a helping hand.

The program is called SelfStarters and is really focused on providing grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 to unemployed Bahamians, between 18 and 30.

That money is to help them cover the costs of acquiring "tools and supplies" for a business, Carl Brennen, undersecretary for the Department, told Guardian Business. "The government has set aside $1 million for the program in the first year and only about $40,000 of it will go to administrative costs.

"The rest goes directly into grants."

Sawyer's application may stand out from the slew of business ideas centered on hairdressing, lawncare, handicrafts and technology. It will fall to members of a selection committee to approve or reject each of them over the course of the two-day fair. The event is set for the Kendal G. L. Isaacs Gymnasium.

The intention is to "give even 200 young people it represents a good first step," Brennan said.

Under the terms of the initiative, applications must include a business license, proof of National Insurance and citizenship as well as a couple of reference letters and passport photos. Successful candidates will then be required to submit a detailed list of suppliers. The government will pay them directly.

The application, itself, prompts candidates to provide a thumbnail sketch of their proposed business, its potential impact on the community, a projected budget and how exactly the business will sustain itself when the grant money runs dry.

The last question is something Sawyer freely admits he may need some help answering.

He points to the seasonal nature of almond cultivation and the challenge that poses to year-round supply.

Brennen is suggesting his department along with other government agencies and volunteers from the business community will help steer untested entrepreneurs, many of them without a high school education.

"There is going to be a mentorship program," he said. "Workshops with the assistance of BTVI (Bahamas Vocational and Technical Institute) are also part of the program. We're not just going to leave them hanging."

They won't be left without real fiscal oversight either.

His department intends to follow up with grant recipients in an attempt to quantify and qualify the success of the program. It represents a departure from the proven public infrastructure campaigns governments usually mount in order to create jobs and send money racing through the economy during tough times.