Chairman of the Coffee Industry Board (CIB), Howard Mitchell, outlined his business plan for a viable organisation to members of the board and management earlier this month, at the end of a two-day retreat at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

Mitchell said a sense of direction and cohesion within the CIB was critical to the achievement of the board's goals and that staff needed basic resources to carry out their duties effectively.

On the question of the stewardship of the board, he told members that their full support was required to strengthen the relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture, get a clear mandate as to the role and function of the board and to strategise the execution of their mandate.

The chairman spoke also to production-related issues, raised earlier by Minister of Agriculture Christopher Tufton, and applauded the Government's offer of Crown lands and technical advice to support the industry's expansion plan.

Mitchell also charged the board to examine the strategic plan prepared by its predecessors, along with recommendations arising from the two-day retreat, and select areas of priority for immediate attention and resolution.