Mr. George is the Technology Infrastructure Manager of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and is tasked with the responsibility for the infrastructure that collects a huge percentage of the revenue for the Virgin Islands along with all the technical hardware necessary to carry out the FSC’s daily operations.

He’s only 34 and with a vision for leadership and entrepreneurship, this ambitious young man said he always saw himself reaching a leadership capacity.

His first job out of the BVI High School now Elmore Stoutt High School was in 1993 where he spent five years at the Treasury Department. Mr. George remembered his responsibilities included the transformation of the fully papered process for creating all government payments to the automated system.

It was there that Mr. George developed his early passion in the technological field, one that still burns today at the FSC.

“The way it happened, wasn’t as expected but I welcomed the challenge and I am very thankful that they (FSC) had the confidence in me to give me this amount of responsibility,” said the Technology Infrastructure Manager.

This is Mr. George’s 7^th year at the FSC where he started out as the regular Information Technology (IT) worker in charge of graphics, web development and database management. With his natural ability to lead and take charge of work placed under him, Mr. George was transformed into a System Administrator and not long after, he was promoted to his current position.

“The FSC provides a challenging environment where you have the opportunity to get a lot of training, you get the exposure you need to maximize what you can get out of your career path,” said Mr. George.

The young Virgin Islander, who hails from Cane Garden Bay, said he is very passionate about what the FSC does, since it provides the Territory with a solid industry that touches almost every household in these islands in “one way or another".

Asked what he enjoys most about what he does at the FSC, the manager said as an IT person he enjoys witnessing technological initiatives transforming tedious tasks and outdated manual processes into seamless automated processes and making people’s life easier.

In his seven years of working at the FSC Mr. George admitted it has been very challenging, and he was able to spearhead the implementation of what he called some very complex initiatives which made him who is he today.

Mr. George¸ who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems and a Minor in Business from the Florida A & M University said his biggest accomplishment to date would be his role in setting up the physical infrastructure of the FSC’s flagship application now known as VIRRGIN. VIRRGIN is an online company formation and registration system.

“We jolted ourselves to become one of the world leaders in company registration when we implemented that system and it is one of the reasons why we are as successful as we are.,” the Infrastructure Manager proudly stated.

The second biggest accomplishment for Mr.George is the setting up of the FSC’s Disaster and Recovery site of which he was the Project Manager. The site is another environment identical to the one that the FSC uses and it is updated in real time and can be activated manually or automatically when needed.

“It is very important to the country so we put measures in place to ensure down time is minimal even if it’s a major hurricane or the building were to burn down; VIRRGIN will be up and running, it is designed to be a 365 day application,” he explained the importance of the systems.

While this young professional enjoys his job and always finds himself leading various initiatives for the FSC, he ultimately has a knack for entrepreneurship and always wanted to be part of something that he started from scratch and propelled into a successful entity.

In light of his calling, five years ago, Mr. George started his own IT consulting company - RKG Solutions Consulting Group, which is responsible for about 30 local websites.

“We have custom coded accounting systems, custom built data management systems, built dozens of websites for non-profit, public and private organizations and have partnered with a couple companies overseas on consulting projects,” explained the businessman.

The ambitious businessman is also a partner with two small companies - Clean Air Solutions formally Quality Air Services specializing in indoor air quality, testing and remediation (mold, dust and other air pollutants to name a few) and Premier Health Solutions providing a vast array of medical supplies and consulting services. He also sits on the executive body of a local investment club whose primary goal is to assist the younger generation here in the BVI with their goals and aspirations where possible.

As a young Virgin Islander, Mr. George is concerned with where he sees many of the young men of the VI ending up today, and hopes they can look at him and others like him and get some sort of motivation for them to get back on track.

“I think our young men are getting caught up in this façade thinking there is no way except through the “streets” and I think our society has cultivated a situation for them where the options they have are very limited, they either hustle or try to take it from you and that shows itself in the news every day with the rise in crime,” said Mr. George.

His advice to such youths is, “Set some realistic goals in your life and go after them. Try to surround yourselves with positive people. I think as you mature in any community you learn who your real friends are and those are the ones that will help you accomplish your goals even if it’s just giving you honest sound advice. It’s time to disconnect from the people that are pulling you down and who can’t help you move forward.”

George said he plans on becoming more active in his community trying to influence some of those young men to take a turn in what can be much better life with options.

“I think we need to start going to them and talking to them first of all to get a feel for what they are thinking and what their ambitions are, and if they have any ambitions we should try to get some type of programme(s) in place where they can at least acquire some type of skill and fulfill at least one goal,” he said.

Asked how he feels about his accomplishments so far, Mr. George who is the son of Lilian and Cosmus George of Cane Garden Bay said with a contented smile, “I am thankful to God because I am blessed and think I am in a good place right now. I have my family - my wife Keiyia and two children Mikei 5, and Kemiyia 2 -and they are my ultimate motivation for everything I do. I am in a position where I can take care of them and I see it only getting better in the future.”