Cane Bay Partners Forms Collaboration With UVI

St. Croix-based Cane Bay Partners VI, LLLP has partnered with the University of the Virgin Islands to develop a computational science and modeling curriculum that will provide students training in decision sciences, predictive analytics and econometrics.

“An enhanced computational science and modeling curriculum will help UVI students become more competitive in the increasingly important world of ‘big data’,” said Mitchell Neaves, UVI’s director of major gifts. “In addition, this represents a very beneficial cultivation of our community’s resources. We have tremendous, real-world educational opportunities existing today in our Virgin Islands business community.”

Luz Aguilera, Kirk Chewning, David Johnson, Anthea Francis, Ghadeer Taha

To date, Cane Bay Partners has contributed more than $70,000 toward the program.

“Demand is high for ‘big data’ analytical resources–both in the USVI and globally,” said Kirk Chewning, a partner at Cane Bay Partners. “Investing in this training for students here at our home university makes good sense on many levels.”

David Johnson, another partner at Cane Bay, pointed out that more than 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies use the business analytics software, SAS–something he hopes UVI will add to its curriculum.

“It is critically important for our UVI students to come out of school prepared to face today’s workplace demands,” Johnson said. “Kirk and I hope this partnership will help the University achieve that goal.”

Cane Bay Partners, an analytics and management consulting firm, have brought on seven interns from UVI, three of whom have been hired to work for the company after graduating.

Anthea Francis graduated from UVI in May 2013, where she obtained a bachelor of arts degree in business administration with a concentration in computer applications. She completed two internships at Cane Bay Partners and was hired by the company to perform business analytics.

Francis was preparing to leave St. Croix to find work when she received the Cane Bay Partners’ job offer.

“I am happy I was able to stay on St. Croix and find work in my field,” she said, noting that the internship helped her and other students “experience what it is like to be in a professional environment.”

UVI graduates Luz Aguilera and Ghadeer Taha also completed internships at Cane Bay Partners and have been hired by the company.