St. Lucia Business Focus 87

Issue No. 87

Jun/Jul 2016

Vieux Fort

My Home!

My Future!

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at AT ALL THESE LOCATIONS: • Choiseul Credit Union (Co Op) (3 J E M Salmon Street, Choiseul - 15 Bridge Street, Soufriere) • Dennery Community Credit Co Op Society (High Street, Dennery) • Erolines Foods (Soufriere) • Fond St. Jacques Credit Coop Society Ltd. (Church Street, Soufriere - Ti Bough, Fond St. Jacques) • gl foodmarket (Baywalk Shopping Mall, Rodney Bay) • Glace Supermarkets (Marisule - Bridge Street, Castries) • Laborie Co-Operative Credit Union Ltd. (Allan Louisy Street, Laborie - Clarke Street, Vieux Fort) • Mon Repos Eastern Co operative Credit Union (Mon Repos - Micoud - Vieux Fort) • Mabouya Valley Co-operative Credit Union Ltd. (Mabouya Valley, Richfond)

• National Farmers & General Workers Co-operative Credit Union (Lamar Building, 1st Floor, Bridge Street, Castries - Orange Park, Bois D’Orange, Castries - Louisville Office, Clarke Street,Vieux Fort) • Police Credit Union (31 Bridge Street, Castries) • Saltibus Cooperative Credit Union (Piaye, Choiseul - Saltibus) • SouthWell Inc. (Clarke Street,Vieux Fort) • St. Lucia Workers Credit Union (#9 Grass Street, Castries - Gablewoods Mall, Sunny Acres, Castries) • The Document Centre (Bourbon Street, Castries - Charlery Building, Vieux Fort) • Massy Insurance (Vide Bouteille, Castries - Charlery Bldg., Vieux Fort) • West Coast Credit Union (Anse BusinessFocus La Raye - Canaries) Jun / Jul • Super J \ IGA Supermarkets (All locations)

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OUR BUSINESS IS TO GROW YOURS

CALL (758) 450-8222 slu@axcelfinance.com BusinessFocus Jun / Jul | 2

Castries Lamar Building, Bridge Street, PO Box C2009 Vieux Fort Gablewoods South Mall, Unit # 22 Soufriere GTM Building, Bridge Street © 2016 Axcel Finance. All rights reserved.

No. 87

BF Jun/Jul 2016

CONTENTS FEATURE

29. Vieux Fort My Home! My Future!

30. Vieux Fort Opportunity Beckons!!

32. Redeveloping Hewanorra International Airport A Prerequisite for Economic Expansion 34. LUCELEC to Construct 3.2 MW Solar Power Park in Vieux Fort 36. The Early Days 37. The Making of an Entrepreneur 38. Growing with Opportunity 39. Expansion and Diversification 40. True Value Setting New Standards of Service 42. You’ve made the effort and achieved the Results Now it’s your time to breathe....

44. A Modern Community...

46. An Interview with Deborah Tobiere 48. Philanthropy Caring for Our People and Community 50. Builder’s Choice 54. LUBECO, Creating a Regional Brand and a Legacy 56. WILROCK, Providing Rock Solid Blocks and Concrete 58. Windward & Leeward Brewery Ltd 59. Essential Hardware Limited 60. International American University 62. Travel and Leisure 63. Baron Foods Ltd 64. Saint Lu Metal & Plastic Manufacturing Ltd. 64. Brice & Company 66. Windward Islands Packaging Company 67. SMJ Beverages 68. The Trophy Centre 68. Lazarus Funeral Home 70. Cool Breeze Jeep Jeep / Car Rental Setting the Standard in Vehicle Rental in Saint Lucia 72. Soufriere Foundation 74. Laborie Credit Union 75. Drag Wars

04. Editor’s Focus 06. Business Briefs

08. Meet The New Government

Youth In Focus

10. “In-Camera” We Trust

88. St. Lucia’s Tevin Shepherd Among 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders Award Recipients

Technology 12. Liberty Global Completes US$7.4 Bln CWC Acquisition 14. John Reid Takes the Helm at Liberty’s CWC 14. Digicel to Invest up to US$40M More as 4G Service Rolls Out in Guyana

In The Know 90. On Branding: Adapting To An Online World 91. Getting to know the General Manager of NRDF, Mr. Ronald Charles 92. Family Dogs and Infants

Money Matters

94. Customer Satisfaction: Priority #1

18. CAB Agrees Action Plan With Threat to Caribbean Banks

95. Richard Peterkin, Ronald “Boo” Hinkson and Brian Louisy Head 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours List

21. How to Shape Your Legacy 22. Republic Holdings Makes Offer to Acquire Republic Bank (Grenada)

96. How to Negotiate a Better Salary…

97. Caribbean LED Lighting Sets Up in St. Lucia

24. Overstock Invests $4 Million in Caribbean Firm Working on Digital Currencies

98. SALCC to Become First Saint Lucia University College

76. Must Reads

98. Gonsalves Re-states Opposition to CIPs

78. Marigot Bay

Environmental Focus 80. Italy to Fund EC$6 Million State-of-the-Art Local Hazard Warning System 81. Eastern Caribbean Countries Pursue Geothermal Energy as Avenue to Sustainable Future

99. Taiwan Donates EC$3.5M for Gros Islet HRDC and Vigie Beach Vending Facility 99. Veterinary Division Offers Support to Livestock Farmers

Tourism Focus 100. Sandals Continues to Exemplify Excellence

82. IMHO: Renew Recycle Reuse Reduce

102. SLHTA Launches Virtual Agricultural Clearing House

83. RISE Takes the Lead on Good Food Revolution Project

102. US$220 Million Choiseul Resort Project Given CIP Approval

83. Regional Experts Exploring Advantages of Geothermal Energy Development

103. From Wine Resorts to Medical Tourism Exploring Niche Tourism Opportunities in the Caribbean

84. Stakeholders Set Path for Establishment of Regional Creative Industries Body

Health & Wellness

85. Saint Lucia too Soon Establish an Open Ship Registry

104. Start the Day Right!

85. Taiwan Finances Two New Fishing Jetties

105. Tips on Having A Safe and Healthy Carnival HIV Response

86. OECS Launches OECS YES Youth Initiative

106. New Company Registrations

87. Rihanna’s Scholarships for Caribbean Students

108. Advertisers Index BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Vieux Fort – Where Opportunity Beckons!

Deborah Tobierre – Rising to the Challenge.

St Lucia has been credited as the most developed and progressive OECS island. This accolade is due in large measure to the rapid development of the north driven primarily by major investments in tourism.

Over the years successive Governments have advocated diversification of the economy from bananas and tourism with Vieux Fort being identified as central to any new investment opportunities.

Government has taken the lead in promoting new investments with its access to large holdings of state lands which it has used as a catalyst.

Prior to 2000, Vieux Fort was identified as a manufacturing hub where the Government built an industrial estate inclusive of purpose Lokesh Singh built factory shells. A number of investors Editor / Managing Director established businesses and many have become major employers and exporters carving a small but significant economic niche for this sector. Standout companies include The Brewery which celebrated 40 years recently, and others who have been there for more than 25 years to include Winera, Baron Foods, Lubeco and Saint Lu Metals among others. Despite their success, manufacturing has not taken off as intended to influence the projected economic impact on Vieux Fort.

The impact of the airport and the growth of tourism arrivals also did not have the desired effect of stimulating the investment boom.

Local residents continue to be hopeful and the town and community continues to evolve slowly with the investment being driven by local home grown Vieux Fort entrepreneurs.

In this issue we feature Ms Deborah Tobierre, a young and progressive southern entrepreneur, who epitomizes a belief in Vieux Fort and the potential opportunities for investment. She like so many others, yearn for this promised major investment and development in her town and community. Recognising a need to grow and diversify to strengthen her business in a small but competitive environment, she has taken the lead with major ground breaking investments in real estate. Despite not realizing the expected results to date, her initiatives and efforts need to be complimented. We wish her much success with her projects and hope that her story serves as a catalyst to the many other southern business persons to take the lead and responsibility for making the investments to capitalize on the opportunities in Vieux Fort.

BUSINESSFOCUS Business Focus magazine is published every two months by Advertising & Marketing Services Limited (AMS), Saint Lucia.

Editor / Managing Director: Lokesh Singh lokesh@amsstlucia.com Graphic Designer: Cecil Sylvester Advertising Sales: Cennette Flavien - cennette@amsstlucia.com Hudson Myers - hudson@amsstlucia.com Webmaster: Advertising & Marketing Services Photography: Cecil Sylvester | Cameron Browne | Kristin Hammal True Value| STDC | SLASPA | LUCELEC INVEST SAINT LUCIA | NRDF | SANDALS Contributors: Lokesh Singh | Nesa Constantine | Alex Holder Dr Chris Bart | Samuel Rosenberg | Lyndell Halliday Dawn French | Hanna Fitz | Brian Ramsey | STDC Kezia Preville | Trudy O Glasgow | CARIB-EXPORT Samantha Turner-Girard | Dr Tanya Destang-Beaubrun CAB | SLASPA | OECS | NRDF Editorial, Advertising, Design & Production: Advertising & Marketing Services P.O. Box 2003, Castries, Saint Lucia Tel: (758) 453-1149; Fax: (758) 453-1290 email: ams@candw.lc www.amsstlucia.com, www.stluciafocus.com Business Focus welcomes contributions from professionals or writers in specialized fields or areas of interest.

Reproduction of any material contained herein without written approval, constitutes a violation of copyright.

Business Focus reserves the right to determine the content of the publication.

Here’s hoping that 2016 will see the resurgence of Vieux Fort as the St Lucia’s new investment capital.

We hope that you will enjoy reading about the new initiatives and articles featured in the pages of this Issue of Business Focus and be inspired by the many stories affecting and influencing business in St Lucia and further afield.

Happy Reading!

On The Cover:

Vieux Fort

My Home! My Future!

BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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DIGICELBUSINESS.COM

Keep your business running in times of disaster with Digicel Business With the start of the 2015 hurricane season a couple days away, business and home owners alike need comfort in ensuring that their assets are secured during this potential catastrophic time.

Digicel

Business, the Caribbean’s leading business solutions provider offers a cost-effective Disaster Recovery As A service Product (DRaaS) that ensures business continuity and peace of mind to business owners during this hurricane season through Digicel’s Tier III Data Center.

The term ‘data centre’ is fast becoming one of the ‘in words’ of this generation. Over the past few years, the increasingly mobile nature of today’s world has led to a greater reliance, among businesses, on cloud computing. This is particularly true following catastrophic events like Hurricane Tomas and the 2013 Christmas Eve Trough that flooded many businesses, both of which have catapulted the term ‘data centre’ into everyday speak. Nevertheless, many business owners might not know or understand what exactly a data centre is—or the role it plays in keeping their businesses on in times of disaster.

What is the data centre?

Simply put, the data centre is an ultra-secure and self-sufficient facility which houses critical computing equipment. This usually includes associated components such as backup storage, servers and telecommunications systems. Unlike a regular facility, the differentiating factor of the data centre is its ability to stay on - which is referred to as uptime. Key among the characteristics of the data centre is its redundancy - that is, independent and back-up power supplies, redundant connectivity solutions and state of the art security provisions. Along with the physical security of the facility, the data centre is also equipped with hurricane resistant and firesuppression systems, which contribute to its overall ability to provide uptime to businesses during a disaster.

Uptime

Data centres are evaluated globally based on their ability to provide a certain amount of uptime to the facilities that they serve. This is usually represented as a percentage, with the highest being 99.999% uptime - which is equivalent to 5 1/2 minutes of downtime or less. The resilience of a data centre is reflected in what is known as its Tier rating, which is provided by either the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) or the Uptime Institute. Siobhan James-Alexander, Country Manager Digicel St. Lucia, spoke to the benefits of the company’s Tier III certified Data Centre to its corporate customers, saying, “The Digicel Business data centre provides our clients with a hurricane-proof, earthquake resistant facility to co-locate their servers and other IT infrastructure. With multiple sources for connectivity, power and security, this helps to ensure that their data is secure when disasters occur and also continuously available - so that business can continue regardless of what happens.”

“With our ‘hot seat’ service, we are able to give our customers the added benefit of business continuity even after a disaster. This is a space outfitted with phones, computers and all the tools necessary to keep business up and running.”

Data centres and life as we know it

Despite their lack of popularity outside of the technology industry, the untethered life as we know it would come crashing to a halt without data centres. Especially with the growing trend of business mobility, phones, tablets, ecommerce and social media all depending on cloud computing - which means that they rely on data hosted in a data centre.

Disaster Recovery as a Service Protect your data and business operations

The Disaster Recovery as a Service product is a cost-effective cloud-based business continuity product that enables customers to secure their most vital information through a ‘server-based’ and ‘storage-based’ data replication and recovery management system. Digicel’s Digicel disaster recovery offering provides real time data protection from any physical or virtual cloud environments in Digicel’s world class Tier III data centres hosted right in the Caribbean. This means that, in the event a physical machine is lost or damaged, customers can access their desktop environment within a matter of minutes thereby ensuring business continuity for critical business applications.

Features LOW COST • Many-to-One configuration provides low Total Cost of Ownership by reducing the computer, storage, and network resources required for total recoverability • Significantly reduces disaster recovery costs by simplifying the production server’s business continuity cost equation.

NEAR ZERO RECOVERY TIME OBJECTIVE • Built on real-time continuous byte-level replication engine.

• Because the target is continuously updated, Recovery Point Objectives are near-zero.

CLOUD READY AND OPTIMISED • DR’s platform/hardware independence and state-of-the-art data transfer technologies allow you to setup target repositories anywhere for cloud-enabled Disaster Recovery.

Benefits of Disaster Recovery as a Service • • • • • • •

Ensures Business Continuity Cost-Effective Near-zero downtime and data loss in the event of an outage, loss or damage to their physical servers No specialized hardware required to implement Speed to deploy Bandwidth Efficiency over low bandwidth networks Fast recovery times

• • •

Works on any platform, OS or hardware Offers full byte level replication in real time thereby providing near zero down time for critical business applications Provides peace of mind during and after a natural disaster

Contact your Digicel Business Sales Rep via email, phone or visit your nearest retailer today

Phone: 1 (758) 724 -6001 | Email: digicelbusinessslu@digicelgroup.com

BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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BUSINESS BRIEFS $5.8 Million 472-Seat Taiwan-Funded. Theatre Auditorium for Gros Islet

and departments, and also enhance government-citizen engagement and other operational efficiencies.

Construction on the Gros Islet Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC) began in 2011 and the first phase ended in 2013. Without additional funds Govern¬ment was unable to respond immediately to the complete the project.

Revised costings for the HRDC meant the Government had to secure grant funding of approximately $6 million to fully complete the project. The Government of China/Taiwan have since agreed to provide funding to complete the building.

Mayor for Gros Islet Ms. Alli¬son KingJoseph said her local government council welcomes the new space for training, meetings, fundraisers and other community activities.

Taiwan Ambassador Ray Mou turned the sod for the new HRDC where works are scheduled to commence in June and be completed within 6 months.

The Gros Islet HRDC will house a 472 seat theatre audi¬torium, a restaurant, a confer¬ence room, a youth training room and exhibition space.

Government Installs New UCS Telephone System The Government of Saint Lucia has launched a state-of-the-art Unified Communications System (UCS). The Unified Communications System replaces government’s present archaic telephone sys¬tem (which has been in opera¬tion for almost two decades) and is expected to result in an¬nual savings of close to $2 mil¬lion in recurrent expenditure.

The system will facilitate im¬proved collaboration between ministries BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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The system connects all ma¬jor government departments across the island to a high capacity fiber optic back¬bone which allows informa¬tion transfers at the speed of light.

With this system, government foreign offices will also connect to the telephone system as if they were present locally.

This feature is expected to sig¬nificantly reduce the expendi¬ture on overseas calls, in addi¬tion to enhancing desktop and video conferencing capabilities that will enable government officials to engage actively at meetings held in Saint Lucia while being present at their overseas posts.

The interactive video collabo¬ration capability is anticipated to significantly reduce overseas travel costs and improve acces¬sibility and teamwork between foreign missions and the gov¬ernment.

The implementation of the Unified Communications Sys¬tem will redound to greater ef¬fectiveness and efficiency in the public service that translates to not only improved productivity but greater economic gains.

According to the National ICT Policy and Strategy 2013-2018, “The Government of Saint Lucia recognizes the need to promote the use of information and com¬munication technology as an enabler of growth and develop¬ment within the island.”

The national development agenda emphasises the use of such technologies in building requisite capacities within the country’s key economic sectors.

The five-year National ICT Policy and Strategy is orga¬nized along eight sectors which include: ICT infrastructure, Education, Health, Community development/Social Services, Business, Agriculture, Govern¬ment including National Secu¬rity, and Tourism.

Wind Farm Set for Construction at Dennery

New ICT Community Access Centre Opened in Micoud Residents of Micoud are the recipients of a mod¬ern state of the art Infor¬mation Communication and Technology (ICT) Community Access Centre which was officially com¬missioned in early June and forms part of the thrust by the Government of Saint Lucia, to create the necessary environ¬ment for the development of an ICT- enabled society.

This is the sixth ICT Commu¬nity Access Centre to be com¬missioned in recent times with the others being established in the communities of Vieux-Fort, Canaries, Anse-La-Raye, Gar¬rand and Monchy.

Construction of a 12-mega¬watt wind farm, the first of its kind in Saint Lucia, will begin in December. The wind farm will consist of four turbines erected on the ridge near the Bordelais Correctional Facility (BCF). At full capacity, it will generate enough energy to power approxi¬mately 19,475 homes and its output will be equivalent to the production power of one of LUCELEC’s 10 die¬sel engines. The wind farm is projected to re¬duce the amount of fuel

BUSINESS BRIEFS purchased by the company by about 10 percent.

Trade Saint Lucia Launched

The project was officially launched in April 2015 with a test tower and equipment used to re¬cord wind speeds and wind direc¬tion to assist in the design of the wind farm.

To date, a number of studies including geotechnical and envi¬ronmental impact studies have been completed, paving the way for construction on the project to begin this year, once the appropriate ap¬provals have been secured.

A community meeting was held recently, to brief residents of Denne¬ry on the progress of the wind farm.

Close to 100 people attended the meeting during which the Minis¬try of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology, LUCELEC, and Windtex Energy, made presentations on the purpose, current status and implementation schedule for the wind farm.

Residents were also briefed on job opportunities the construction project would provide, and were informed that an employment job fair will be held to fill a number of positions including truckers, labour¬ers, security, accountants, engineers and surveyors. A number of services like hous¬ing, catering and rental cars will also be sourced from the surround¬ing area. Beyond the construction period, job opportunities for maintenance of the wind farm will be available, for which training would be pro¬vided.

The wind farm is a joint project between the Government of Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia Electricity Ser¬vices Limited (LUCELEC) and Windtex Energy, a wind developer from the US.

Trade Saint Lucia, was recently launched as an initiative of the Min¬istry of Commerce, Business Development, Investment and Consumer Af¬fairs.

The enterprise is a merger of the skills and ser¬vices of the Saint Lucia Trade Export Promotion Agency (TEPA) and the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC).

Director of TEPA, Jacque¬line EmmanuelFlood, said the merger gives the undertaking a core strength. “TEPA is quite a young or¬ganization. We focus primar¬ily on export promotion but we depend to a large extent on the work that is being done in the SBDC. Many of our exporters are still what we call emerging or potential exporters, which means that they are still grow¬ing businesses that need to have a strong foothold domestically to be able to do well globally.

Oftentimes, TEPA and the SBDC are working within the same client space. This merger will streamline what we do, help avoid duplication, and provide businesses with the services they need to make them competitive and successful global players.”

Mrs. Emmanuel-Flood added that Trade Saint Lucia will provide both en¬tities the opportunity to evaluate the services which they offer.

“It also gives us an opportuni¬ty to reevaluate our processes and become more innovative. This is an era when technology is being used all across Saint Lucia and the Government of Saint Lucia has been working to make services accessible elec¬tronically. So we are going to be moving into that kind of space.”

Public Service Training Institute Launched

The Ministry of the Public Service, Information and Broadcasting has formal¬ly launched the Public Service Training Institute.

The first of its kind, the Train¬ing Institute will formulate customized learning and devel¬opment programs to meet the deficiencies identified by the Learning Needs Assessment and aims to build capacity with¬in government ministries by strengthening human resources in accordance with service de-livery and policy and program objectives.

The Institute will also adopt a competency-based approach to human resource training and development in the public ser¬vice, in keeping with objectives identified for training in the Ministry of the Public Service’s Strategic Plan for 2014-2017. Currently, the training divi¬sion of the Ministry of the Pub¬lic Service operates two training rooms, one with a seating ca¬pacity of 15, and the other with a seating capacity of 25.

The spatial constraints restrict the number of people that can be trained at any given time, resulting in the sub-optimal use of allocated resources. The absence of break-out rooms and video-conferencing technology has also affected the quality of training being offered. The Public Service Training Institute will address these short comings.

The launch of the Public Ser¬vice Training Institute took place on May 25. The Train¬ing Institute is located in the former Spinners building at Union.

Trade Saint Lucia is designed to tackle the depth and scope of future business development in Saint Lucia.

BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Meet The New Government General Elections were held in Saint Lucia on Monday 6th June 2016 and the United Workers Party won the majority of Parliamentary Seats by a margin of 11 – 6 giving them the rights to form a new Government.

Listed below are the details of the Members of the new Cabinet of Ministers and their respective portfolios.

Sen. Hon. Ubaldus Raymond Minister in the Ministry of Finance Hon. Allen M. Chastanet Prime Minister Minister for Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs and the Public Service

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Hon. Gale Rigobert Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development

Hon. Ezechiel Joseph Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives

Sen. Hon. Jimmy Henry Minister in the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives

Hon. Stephenson King Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour

Hon. Guy Joseph Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation

Hon. Herod Stanislas Minister in the Ministry for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation

Hon. Lenard Montoute Minister for Equity, Social Justice, Empowerment, Youth Development, Sports, Culture and Local Government

Hon. Edmund Estephane Minister in the Ministry for Equity, Social Justice, Empowerment, Youth Development, Sports, Culture and Local Government

Sen. Hon. Fortuna Belrose Minister in the Ministry for Equity, Social Justice, Empowerment, Youth Development, Sports, Culture and Local Government

Sen. Hon. Hermangild Francis Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security

Hon. Bradley Felix Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Commerce, Industry, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs

Hon. Dominic Fedee Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Tourism, Information and Broadcasting

Sen. Hon. Mary Isaac Minister for Health and Wellness BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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BUSINESSTECH TECH BUSINESS

“In-Camera” We Trust

I

By: Dr. Chris Bart n the past, when directors had to discuss sensitive or supposedly confidential issues, a motion was typically made for the board meeting to go “in-camera”. The phrase in-camera is Latin for “in a chamber” but is now used today as a legal term for “in private” in which, for a portion of a board or committee meeting, one or more of the individuals in attendance is asked to leave the room.

Privacy: A Matter of Dgree Interestingly, there are several gradations of these “in private” sessions. For instance, where a board holds its meetings in public forums [which are commonplace among hospitals and universities], a portion of the meeting is often reserved for a “closed session” during which only members of the board and specific invitees are permitted to remain. Those invitees would typically include the Chief Executive Officer, selected members of the senior management team [such as the Chief financial Officer] and various professional advisors whose work supports the activities of the board [e.g., the internal and external auditors, compensation consultants, executive recruiters, etc.].

The kinds of sensitive matters to be discussed at such a “closed session” ordinarily involve the awarding of contracts, legal and accounting issues, or conflicts of interest where it is in the best interests of the organization to keep the board’s deliberations on these matters private.

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After this, the next level of privacy would be a “board only session” in which just members of the board and the Chief Executive Officer are present. The main purpose in having such a session is primarily to allow the Chief Executive Officer to discuss his concerns and recommendations regarding members of the senior management team and/or the professional board advisors (especially the internal and external auditors and sometimes the legal firm) with whom he must interact in the course of fulfilling his job responsibilities.

The purest form of in-camera sessions occurs, however, when only the independent board members are in attendance. If there are management members on the board, they are excused because they cannot be relied upon to objectively contribute to the deliberations at hand. What are the sensitive matters and issues that are reserved for this type of session?

Generally speaking, they comprise: an evaluation of the performance of the Chief Executive Officer; determining the CEOs compensation; internal board governance issues [e.g. Board and director evaluations; board and committee responsibilities]; individual director and CEO succession planning; individual oneon-one meetings with both the internal and external auditors; and, giving the “shy” directors an opportunity to express concerns and/or ask questions that they were hesitant, for whatever reasons, to raise in the presence of the CEO.

Rules of Engagement Until recently, the process and circumstances for going in-camera were made on an ad hoc basis during a board meeting as the situation warranted.

However, the idea of conducting these types of sessions both more routinely and in a more prescribed manner has gained considerable popularity. This is to avoid

Dr. Chris Bart, FCPA is a recognized global governance authority, the author of two best sellers, and Co-Founder of the Caribbean Governance Training Institute.

The Institute is currently providing throughout the Caribbean an intensive 3 day corporate governance program leading to the prestigious, internationally recognized, Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation. For more information visit CGTI’s website: http://www. caribbeangovernancetraininginstitute. com/ or phone Lisa at 758 451 2500

the possibility of individual directors calling for impromptu or snap in-cameras during a meeting which, when they occur, both frighten and anger management.

Accordingly, it is today considered best practice that boards and their committees include an in-camera session as the last agenda item at every meeting, even if it is not used or “waived off”. Moreover, there is also a growing movement suggesting that an in-camera session should be held at the start of every board meeting to give directors the opportunity to organize their thinking and especially the priorities surrounding the agenda items put before them.

By taking this approach, it is believed that management will become more sensitized to having in-cameras [remember, management physically has to leave the room] and therefore feel both less awkward and less suspicious when they occur.

Need for a Policy When the decision to go in-camera is made, however, it should be guided by specific conditions which qualify for it to occur, such as the list provided above. Otherwise, some board members may be tempted to have their boards conduct more and more of its routine business during these types of sessions.

It is for this reason that boards need to consider developing an in-camera policy to guide them on what constitutes legitimate in-camera matters and concurrently giving the meeting chair the authority to enforce it.

Thou shalt not. Generally speaking, such a policy should reinforce the notion that in-camera board meetings are NOT to be used for rescinding management decisions previously approved or raising personal agendas. They are also NOT to be used for making new decisions other than three: the decision to fire the CEO; the determination of the CEO’s pay; and any internal board governance matters. Other than these three, all board-required decisions should be deliberated and made in the presence of the CEO to guarantee that the board has obtained all the information that management possesses in response to any issues or concerns expressed by the board. After all, there is a tremendous information imbalance between the board and management. And so, when board members review, deliberate and decide on management recommendations in the absence of management, they deprive themselves of the opportunity to extract valuable knowledge that is locked inside the heads of those engaged in the business 24 hours a day. In so doing, they risk making sub-optimal decisions.

therefore strongly recommended that the meeting chair keep a record of both the questions asked and concerns expressed by the directors, but without attribution. The list should be in writing and read back to the directors present to ensure their accuracy before the meeting’s termination. If time permits, the CEO should be called back into the room and presented with the list for a response to be given at the next meeting. However, if the board/committee meeting concludes with the end of the in-camera, the board chair should immediately go to the CEO’s office and inform him of the list of concerns, again for resolution at the next meeting.

In Conclusion Whether Management likes them or not, in-camera sessions of the board and its committees are now here to stay. They are a valuable tool and regarded as an indispensable best practice in well governed organizations. Yet, many Caribbean boards still do not know when and how such meetings should be held.

Fearing management’s reaction, they currently do not have them as a routine agenda item thereby leaving their firms and themselves vulnerable. So here’s the big, uncomfortable question for Caribbean directors: to what extent does your board have regular, appropriate and productive in-camera sessions that help serve and enhance your meetings’ purpose? If you think that there is room for improvement in the way your board carries out this important governance function, you might want to consider sending them to one of the corporate governance training programs currently available in the region – like the extraordinarily unique 3 day Chartered Director Program (“C. Dir.”) currently being offered by The Caribbean Governance Training Institute. After all, it’s not education which is expensive, but rather ignorance.

Holding back. Another major consideration in conducting incamera sessions is for the meeting chair to assess the comments and expressions of concern made by the “shy” board members.

The question has to be raised with them (usually after the meeting in one-on-one sessions with the chair) as to why they felt they could not express those matters in the presence of management. What were they afraid of? And what needs to be done to give them more courage? Indeed, if such activities are not nipped in the bud, there is the danger that more and more directors may feel tempted to hold back on their comments and reserve them for the in-camera session, where again there is no opportunity for a live conversation with management.

Behind the green curtain. Finally, while in-camera sessions have no minutes, except for any formal resolutions made, management is always desperate to know what happened! It is BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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BUSINESSTECH TECH BUSINESS

Liberty Global Completes US$7.4 Bln CWC Acquisition

L

iberty Global, the world’s largest international TV and broadband company, has completed its acquisition of Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) in a transaction valued at approximately US$7.4 billion on an enterprise value basis.

Enterprise value includes the net debt of CWC, the market value ascribed to all classes of Liberty shares and a dividend paid to CWC. “This is a very exciting day for Liberty Global. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be completing this acquisition which is really a combination of two great companies,” President and CEO of Liberty Global Mike Fries said in a conference call to media across the Caribbean and Latin American.

“Cable and Wireless for us was just the perfect fit. The company has a long and storied history. We felt that this was the right time for us to develop scale in our industry given the competitive environment that we operate in and Cable and Wireless offers that.”

Commenting on telecommunication penetration across the region, Fries said great potential exists for Liberty Global to add value and increase its footprint.

He said: “If we look at mobile data penetration, or broadband data penetration, or pay TV penetration, or smartphone penetration in Latin America and the Caribbean and we compare it to the US and Europe, it’s clear that there’s a great opportunity to bring investments and innovation to this region of the world and we’re excited to do that.”

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He said roughly 20 to 25 per cent of Liberty’s revenue is invested in the networks and technology part of the business and he sees the same applying across the region with most of the investments targeted towards upgrading the quality of networks.

Fries assured that there will be no major shake-ups or corporate changes in the near to medium term as a result of the acquisition.

Interim CEO of CWC, John Reid, who was also on the call, expressed confidence that CWC’s failure to sell its 49 per cent stake in TSTT would not affect the approval of the Liberty acquisition.

On March 12th 2015, the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) made the sale of the CWC stake in TSTT a condition of the regulatory approval of the Columbus Communications merger with CWC. Reid said: “It needs to be understood that there has not been a lack of effort to divest of that particular asset. We’ve engaged all the relevant government parties and extended agencies and its an ongoing process that sometimes takes time.”

Reid said changes in the political administration had been a factor that hindered the sale of CWC’s stake in TSTT. “We’ve had government boards changed, we’ve had regulatory agency boards changed and so that contributes to it taking longer than first anticipated but our expectation is that, based on our continued efforts to dialogue with the various parties, this will not interrupt this process and that we will be given the greenlight to pursue this sale to Liberty Global.”

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BUSINESS TECH

John Reid Takes the Helm at Liberty’s CWC

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ow that US-owned cable operator Liberty Global has officially taken control, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is part of Liberty Global’s Latin American and Caribbean (LiLAC) group tripling the size of that entity from US$1.2 billion revenue to US$3.6 billion.

The merged operation has substantial business to business and submarine fibre operations and will serve ten million video, voice, broadband and mobile subscribers in more than 20 countries. The size of the combined workforce is 7,200.

John Reid, the new interim CEO of CWC and former President of Columbus Communications, is in charge of the integration of the two telecommunications entities.

He takes over from Phil Bentley, the outgoing CEO of CWC. In a conference call with journalists across the region in mid May, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said: “I would like to personally congratulate Phil Bentley, outgoing CEO of CWC, for his great work over the last two and a half years. I would also like to welcome John Reid as interim CEO of CWC. “We look forward to working closely with John over the next six months as we evaluate how best to structure and integrate CWC into the LiLAC Group and jointly explore new opportunities for growth and expansion.

“John was previously President of CWCs Consumer Group and also held other high-profile management roles at Columbus Communications and Persona Communications.”

Digicel to Invest up to US$40M More as 4G Service Rolls Out in Guyana

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EO of Digicel (Guyana), Kevin Kelly (centre); Head of Marketing, Jacqueline James (third from left) and Communications Manager Vidya Bijlall-Sanichara (extreme right).

With the allocation of additional spectrum by the Ministry of Public Telecommunications, Guyana’s telephone service providers have finally launched their 4G networks across Guyana.

Improved telecommunication services are a long awaited advent for Guyana given the increasing demands of today’s technological environment.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digicel Guyana Kevin Kelly officially launched the service recently in Bartica, Guyana’s newest township where he revealed that Digicel has big plans in store for its consumers.

“This is the first step as we are keen on liberalization. This is just one aspect…with this 4G we are hoping that liberalization will be passed through the Parliament soon and that in itself will bring in a lot of new services,” said Kelly.

He said that while the improved services will be good for Digicel, it will ultimately yield fantastic results for Guyana in several spheres including business and tourism.

Up until April 2016, Guyana was the only country in the Caribbean to not have 3G/4G services having been stuck on Edge for a number of years.

“We were waiting for the spectrum to be allocated and this government has done that. If liberalization happens we’d have to convert every single tower to 4G – that would probably cost over US$30M-US$40M,” said the CEO.

Fries said by leveraging Liberty Global’s scale and management expertise, the firms will “accelerate innovation, enhance the speed and quality of our networks and expand opportunities for all stakeholders.” The value of the deal was given as US$7.4 billion on an enterprise value basis, down from the previously reported US$8.2 billion.

The company will be launching 4G services at 100 sites across the country in the coming weeks.

In November 2015, when the deal was announced, Liberty officials spoke about the long-term equity value of the new entity on the basis of organic growth and “further consolidation opportunities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Earlier in the year, Liberty Global’s largest shareholder John Malone acquired a 13 per cent stake in CWC following the UK group’s acquisition of Columbus International. ¤

“You will have a choice – you can choose to go on the 4G or you can also choose to stay on the present plans…it depends on your usage and what you use. Basically we are trying to do a package for everybody,” said Kelly.

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Customers who would like to utilize the service would have to activate the 4G plans which are different from the plans currently being offered by the Company.

The service is being made available to Postpaid and Prepaid consumers. ¤

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BUSINESSTECH TECH BUSINESS

DIGICEL BUSINESS WINS DOUBLE AT AVAYA AWARDS

Company copped ‘Best Sales Person’ and ‘Best Project of the Year’ Awards

Digicel Jamaica Head of Products and Presales, Lesley Miller, and Digicel St. Lucia Business Solutions Senior Engineer, Selwyn Adams, share a moment with Avaya Channel Account Manager CCA, Jose Roca, after the award ceremony

Digicel Business recently won two major awards at the Avaya Partner Engage Week ceremony which just wrapped up in Miami.

The ‘Best Sales Person’ award was presented to Selwyn Adams, Business Solutions Senior Engineer for Digicel St. Lucia, while the ‘Best Project of the Year’ award was presented for a combination of four projects completed by the company in Haiti, Grenada, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

In St. Lucia and Grenada, Digicel Businesscompleted an ICT project to help both

governments transform their telephony and connectivity and improve overall service experience while in Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti, the company implemented an Avaya Contact

Centre Solution. This fully integrated contact management system allows Digicel to analyse customer query trends in order to resolve them in a timely manner and ultimately improve the overall customer experience.

Some of the most respected engineers and specialists in business solutions attended Avaya Partner Engage Week

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Avaya’s Managing Director for the Caribbean and Central America, Jose M. Fernandez, lauded Digicel Business saying; “Digicel Business has been an outstanding and consistent partner for the past five years and we would like to congratulate them on this outstanding achievement. These awards exemplify their commitment and dedication to meeting the needs of all of their customers in the multiple lines of business so they can compete successfully.”

Group Head of Digicel Business for the Caribbean and Central America, Garrett Quinn, said; “Improving our customers’ experience using best-in-class solutions is at the heart of everything that we do, and Avaya has been a great partner in helping us to do this over the years. This award is also a testament to the hard work of our team across the region and I would like to thank them for their dedication and commitment to our customers.”

To get the technology you need to keep you ahead, Contact Digicel Business at: 1 758 724 6001 or digicelbusinessslu@digicelgroup.com Complete solutions for your needs.

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Business data is only as good as the back up system that is in place. That’s why it’s so critical to have a modern and dependable system in place to safeguard valuable business information.

With Digicel Online Back Up, you can preserve and restore all of your files in a secure, offsite environment without a major capital investment.

We even manage the setup and the maintenance for you, so you can concentrate on your business. Our Online Back Up solution offers the crucial protection you need to ensure the continuity of your business. Don’t leave your most valuable business assets vulnerable for another day.

Why Digicel Online Back up Cost-effective with pay-as-you-go structure Ease of use Optimal business continuity Elimination of human error Scalability Largest private cloud in the region Data stored to Digicel’s Tier III data centre certified by the UpTime Institute 24/7 helpdesk provides continuous support

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MONEY MATTERS

CAB Agrees Action Plan With Threat to Caribbean Banks

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he Caribbean Association of Banks Inc. (CAB) has agreed on an action plan to address a major threat to economic activity across the region as a result of loss of correspondent banking relationships.

CAB, a community of banks and other financial institutions in the Caricom region, tackled the issue at its recent CEO Forum on DeRisking in St Lucia. In addition to CEO’s, directors and compliance professionals from regional banks, the event was attended by technical service providers, a US legal representative and a potential provider of correspondent banking services.

When financial institutions terminate or restrict correspondent banking relationships with client banks to avoid, rather than manage risk, they are said to be de-risking. This has been a recent trend in many Caribbean jurisdictions where global banks have either terminated or are threatening to terminate their correspondent banking relationships which play a critical role in facilitating the flow of funds through remittances, foreign direct investments and international trade.

Caricom countries rely heavily on these economic activities and de-risking has the potential to destabilise economies, promote financial exclusion and increase poverty levels, the group said.

CAB Chair Joanna Charles told participants at the forum that it is no longer “business as usual” for the Caribbean financial services industry because of the unprecedented regulatory, legislative and economic changes. She said the forum was a call to action to deal with imminent threats.

“The need to ensure the viability of the financial services sector, rests with its members and cannot be left in the hands of third parties,” she said.

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Joanna Charles

CAB has agreed on the following key potential solutions: • Establishment of a clearing institution in the US • Alternative payment methods • Alternative correspondent banking relationships (UK).

A six-member committee has been appointed to advance these recommendations.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned late last year that the loss of correspondent banking relationships was a major risk for banks in the region. The agency said that as of June 2015 at least ten banks, including two central banks in five Caricom countries had lost all or some of their correspondent banking relationships.

In at least one country, the situation was of systemic proportions, amounting to more than half of the domestic banking system’s total assets or about 50 per cent of gross domestic product.

The IMF said it linked the trend to enforcement of global regulatory standards such as the AML/CFT where some customers, business lines, markets and jurisdictions are being perceived as too risky and costly in terms of compliance, and are being cut off.

The issue was a major item on the agenda of last February’s Caricom Heads of Government Meeting where it was decided to ramp up action, including meeting with officials in the US over the coming months.

Caricom is currently considering a range of options, including chartering its own bank in the US with which to do correspondent banking business and business mergers of banks to achieve the critical mass needed to make the region’s banking business more attractive to US banks.

In two surveys late last year, the World Bank confirmed that large global banks are restricting or terminating relationships with other financial institutions and banking services for moneytransfer operators have become increasingly limited. ¤

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MONEY MATTERS

TCL Group Moves From Loss to $428.8 M Profit

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ess than a year after completing a major debt restructuring exercise, the Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) Group has recorded its highest revenue of $2.1 billion.

Financial results just released by the group also show profit after tax of $428.8 million—a significant turnaround from losses of $211 million in 2014.

Group Chairman Wilfred Espinet told shareholders that in addition to successfully restructuring its debt, TCL was able to generate positive cash flow and is “becoming a global company that will be able to operate and sustain itself over time in this global environment.”

He added: “We are all faced with the challenges of the global economic climate and with each passing day it is becoming more and more apparent as to the extent of transformation that needs to take place in this existing environment. We at TCL can take comfort in that we started the process ahead of the curve.”

At TCL’s 65th annual general meeting at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre, Espinet said the Group’s “unprecedented” revenue performance “was mainly driven by a 12 per cent increase in cement sales volume in Jamaica and a 16 per cent increase in clinker sales volumes.”

Group CEO Jose Seijo Gonzalez said given TCL’s sound financial base, the company will focus on best practices in health, safety and the environment (HSE).

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“Numerous actions were put in place, investing close to $40 million across the Group in projects related to employees’ wellbeing and the work environment,” he said.

TCL completed a major debt restructuring in May 2015, after missing debt service payments in September 2014.

The exercise included an 11 per cent debt prepayment discount and a US$15 million cash prepayment, which reduced its outstanding debt to US$245 million from about US$292 million at the end of 2014.

The cement manufacturing group, based at Claxton Bay, Trinidad refinanced its debt through a bridge loan after getting an equity injection of US$57 million in March 2015, US$44.8 million of which Mexican cement maker Cemex injected, increasing its stake in TCL to 39.5 per cent from 20 per cent through one of its subsidiaries, Sierra Trading.

TCL used the proceeds of the equity injection to finance capital expenditures, working capital, and strengthen its cash balance. The company also entered into a technical and managerial services agreement with Cemex, including support in manufacturing, procurement, planning, shipping, and trading activities.

As part of the agreement, five Cemex executives were appointed to TCL’s management, including the Group CEO. The TCL Group is the leading producer and marketer of cement and ready-mix products in the Caribbean, with eight operating companies in T&T, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Anguilla. ¤

How to Shape Your legacy

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By Samuel Rosenberg ost of us know and understand the incredible legacy that Muhammad Ali left before and after he died. You do not have to be a celebrity, an inventor or a band member of The Beatles to leave a great legacy. What is important is the type of legacy you wish to leave to your loved ones, your family, friends and community.

Once you take away the financial element, the majority of an individual’s life is built by the objective of making those who are dear to you, better, in ways that are important to you and them. Where you are able to look back at your entire life, or to superimpose yourself on the future and consider what your life may be like, it will almost certainly include a large element of working hard throughout your entire life.

There has been an expectation in the past that parents would leave a financial legacy to their children. The purpose was to ensure that their children have sufficient funds to live a comfortable life and perhaps not work as hard as their parents, although the majority of elders suggest that each generation has to work hard as a good life skill and transfer that knowledge on to their children’s children.

With individuals buying homes, vehicles and other substantial financial elements at a younger age, there is a trend among wealthy individuals to donate the majority all of their wealth to charity, rather than leave it to their children.

There is a lot of merit to this modern approach and if you have accumulated sufficient wealth beyond the amount that would be needed to enable you and your children to live comfortably, you may be facing a similar dilemma.

As you consider your legacy, you may wish to evaluate your true values. Are you more interested in honesty and your intelligence or being humble? Are you going to encourage a corporate culture that gives back to its local community?

seen through actions and heard through words.

By setting your goals for your life and your legacy, your aspirations can include smaller goals that lead to the larger targets. You do not have to be a member of your local government to be able to leave a legacy to your community.

Among the range of questions you may be considering in the future is how should your legacy be involved in helping your community in a meaningful way, balanced with letting your children buy expensive cars and ensuring they do not have to work as hard as you used to?

Where you cannot direct these values completely by your own actions, you may wish to find employment with a company that can meet the majority of your needs, allowing you to give back to your community or charity of your choice.

Those looking for a legacy will try to inspire ambition within all that they complete. Whatever your situation at work or at home, you have an opportunity to mentor individuals and inspire the people around you. This inspiration can be

Samuel Rosenberg is the founder and CEO of Axcel Finance Ltd., the leading regional microfinance institution. Share your thoughts and email your questions to srosenberg@axcelfinance.com BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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MONEY MATTERS

Republic Holdings Makes Offer to Acquire Republic Bank (Grenada)

Strong Growth for Sagicor in 2015

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he Sagicor Group had a strong performance in 2015.

Chairman Stephen McNamara said net income was US$76.8 million, an increase of 3.9 per cent from the US$73.9 million earned in 2014.

“Net income from continuing operations attributable to shareholders was US$56.3 million, compared to the prior year result of US$53.7 million. Earnings per common share from continuing operations was US18.2¢, and represented an annualised return on common shareholders’ equity of 11.7 per cent,” he said.

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epublic Financial Holdings Ltd is making an offer to buy out Republic Bank (Grenada) Ltd.

In a notice posted on the T&T Stock Exchange the banking group, which already has 51 per cent shareholding in that financial institution, announced that the offer document will be mailed out to shareholders on May 9 ahead of the offer period which opened on May 11.

Republic Bank Ltd, as it was then known, bought its majority stake in the former National Commercial Bank of Grenada Ltd (NCB) from the Government of Grenada in July 1992. In April 2006, it was renamed Republic Bank (Grenada) Ltd, in a move designed to unite the two banks and greater capitalise on competitive advantages from systems and processes alignment.

The T&T-based banking group, which was originally called Colonial Bank when it was formed in 1837, is one of the largest and most profitable banks in the English speaking Caribbean with 15 subsidiaries and more than 4000 employees in T&T, Grenada, Barbados and Guyana. In 2013, it became a major stakeholder on the African continent through the acquisition of a 40 per cent stake in HFC Bank (Ghana). In 2015 this stake was increased to 57 per cent.

For the financial year ending September 30, 2015, the group’s total assets stood at $66 billion and profit was $1.22 billion—a 2.5 per cent increase over 2014. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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The group’s total revenue increased to US$1,104.2 million, compared to the prior year amount of US$1,045.2 million, an increase of US$59.0 million or 5.6 per cent. Net premium revenue increased by 7.7 per cent to US$673.9 million from US$625.6 million for the prior year, an increase of US$48.3 million.

There was premium growth in all segments, McNamara said, with net investment income at US$322.2 million, up from US$307.2 million for the previous year, representing an improvement of 4.9 per cent.

“Fees and other revenue amounted to US$109.1 million, compared to US$83.3 million in 2014, an improvement of US$25.8 million or 31 per cent. Net investment income and Fees and other revenue include the impact of the RBC Royal Bank’s operation in Jamaica, which was acquired on June 27, 2014,” he said.

“Total benefits incurred from continuing operations held fairly steady at US$552.9 million, compared to US$542.2 million in 2014.”

Commenting on the outlook for 2016, McNamara said: “The economic environment in which the Sagicor Group operates continues to show signs of improvement. The board and management continue to adapt our strategies as we deliver quality products to our customers and competitive returns to our shareholders.” ¤

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This led to the birth of GCG Events in October of 2008.

GCG Events is an affiliated company of Goddard Catering Group and a member of the Goddard Enterprises Group of Companies.

Our vision is to become the premier catering company in the region by providing culinary experiences that consistently meet and exceed customer expectations. To achieve this GCG Events has invested in a state of the art facility, an internationally trained team of event experts, and ingredients that meet our exacting standards. From conception to completion, our experienced team will help you turn your dream event into a reality.

GCG Events is committed to make each and every event, “Simply Outstanding” At GCG Events we are dedicated to making you the perfect host. We strive to make every catered event, distinguished, blissful and stress-free. Our high standards, supreme service and exceptional quality will make your event a flawless, unforgettable experience.

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GCG Events is delighted to assist brides, grooms and their families with the menu planning for that significant day of their dreams. From grand and lavish to intimate and informal, we can make your special day something you and your guests will always remember.

Your employees and guests will surely appreciate your catering choice whilst consuming each delightful bite of their lunch, canapé or breakfast. Choose one of our menus or allow our chef to create a personalized menu for you that matches your vision and theme. Our team will make sure everything runs smoothly to ensure you and your guests have an unforgettable time.

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uvf.gcg-events@goddardcatering.com www.gcg-events.com BusinessFocus Jun / Jul | 23

MONEY MATTERS

Overstock Invests $4 Million in Caribbean Firm Working on Digital Currencies

Group Posts 3-Month Profit of $153.5 M

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.S. online retailer Overstock.com Inc said it has invested $4 million in a financial technology company that is working to move countries in the Caribbean region to adopt digital currencies. The investment was announced at a media conference in Barbados attended by principals from the financial firm, Barbados-based Bitt, and Overstock, according to a statement from the U.S. retailer.

“A major impediment to economic advancement around the world is the fact that the vast majority of humans are unbanked,” said Overstock Chief Executive Patrick Byrne.

“Yet mobile penetration in some countries exceeds 100 percent.

Bitt has a vision for the Caribbean of frictionless mobile cash, beginning with central banks transparently issuing digital fiat which is then exchanged on a blockchain.”

In February of 2016, Bitt launched a digitized Barbadian dollar on the bitcoin blockchain, backed by the Central Bank of Barbados.

The blockchain is the underlying technology behind the digital currency bitcoin. On Friday, bitcoin traded at $416.19 on the BitStamp platform.

The company intends to digitize all of the fiat currencies found in the Caribbean and place them on the blockchain so they can be easily traded among the islands, bringing modern solutions to a region historically limited by an inefficient exchange and settlement systems, the Overstock statement said.

Overstock has been one of the earliest advocates of digital currencies. It was the first U.S. company with annual sales of at least $1 billion to accept bitcoins as a mode of payment. ¤

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T

he First Citizens Group has concluded a profitable quarter ended March 31 with profit after tax of $153.5 million. The banking group’s unaudited financial statements for the six months ended March 31 shows year to date profit of $333.4 million—an increase of 2.4 per cent over the corresponding period in 2015.

Total assets stood at $37.9 billion, representing growth of 1 per cent.

Chairman Anthony Smart, in his report to shareholders, said customer deposits increased by 13.5 per cent to $29.2 billion and along with the group’s strong capital base “has positioned First Citizens for future lending in the domestic market and within the region.”

He said: “Additionally, in February 2016, First Citizens repaid our US$175 million international fixed rate bond, which resulted in an improved efficiency in our treasury operations.

We will continue to focus on treasury management and cost containment strategies for the rest of this year.”

For the six-month period, First Citizens earning per share increased by 3 cent to $1.33. The board has declared an interim dividend of 56 cents per ordinary share, which is an increase over the interim dividend of 58 cent paid in 2015.

Smart said: “We continue to monitor very closely the current environment and the resulting impact on economic activities.

Notwithstanding, First Citizens will continue to focus on strengthening its balance sheet and measures to improve its efficient and diversification of its product lines.”

First Citizens Group is the parent company of First Citizens Investment Services with its regional office in Saint Lucia. ¤

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Reaping the Rewards of Expanding Services Climbing the Ranks of TripAdvisor One Review at a Time

With more than two scores of reviews since its opening in November 2015, Zaika The Taste is steadily earning its stripes with formidable TripAdvisor reviews that is guaranteed to cement its place as a choice dining destination in Saint Lucia.

More than 85 percent of the Zaika reviews are “Excellent” and the company’s dedication to service and its customers have extended into its social media responses even on TripAdvisor.

The restaurant’s media monitors have acknowledged the overwhelming favorable responses and have also taken the time out to address the not so favorable ones with a vow to addressing the anxieties of those not-so-happy about their experience.

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According to Directors Sachin Narhari and his partner Ashok Vaswani, the goal of the operation remains to uphold the authenticity of the Indian dining experience as well as to ensure the satisfaction of everyone who enters the restaurant.

“We understand that we might not be able to please everyone all the time, but we are still working to ensure that we get as close as possible to the ideal goal of 100% satisfaction,” Narhari said.

To achieve this Zaika has expanded its list of services tremendously to include aspects that cater to almost every whim and fancy of the dining public.

“There is something for everyone here and if you look carefully at the reviews, you will notice that families, groups, children, couples and even individuals have found a place here and we are extremely proud of that achievement.”

For Narhari and his team, the published reviews are equally as important as those unpublished but carry the weight of verbal exchange and impact and more immediately the consuming public.

To this Zaika has created an atmosphere of inclusion that encourages feedback and customer participation in the overall growth of the Zaika brand.

For families, the restaurant has proven to be something of a routine gathering sanctuary that arouses conversation and strengthens bonds. The same could be said for children who, during the day, find fun in the pool while their parents enjoy a two-for-one bar and loungers. Individuals have also come to adore the location for its unobtrusiveness and warm service, while groups of friends and colleagues have equally embraced the location for its outdoor evening atmosphere that stimulates socialization and camaraderie.

These extraordinary feats continue to capture the attention of the dining Saint Lucian public and the wider hospitality community, with Bay Gardens Hotels being among the first hotels to partner with Zaika for the ultimate alternative dining experience for its guests.

This Bay Gardens dine around program has been in place for over a year with eight restaurants being a part of it for Dinner. Zaika is the first and only restaurant which is a partner in the program for Lunch.

These are the possibilities at Zaika the Taste, and it is only the beginning.

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MONEY MATTERS

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Issue date: July 2nd, 2015

FEATURE

Vieux Fort My Home!

My Future!

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Vieux Fort

Opportunity Beckons!!

Vieux Fort, is Saint Lucia’s second major town. It lies 19 miles (30 km) south of the capital city of Castries and is situated near the island’s extreme southeastern tip on fertile, flat ground overlooking Vieux Fort Bay. It was the site of St. Lucia’s first sugar works (1765) and has evolved over the years as a major agricultural trading community with bananas and coconuts as the primary crops since the demise of sugar.

The town blossomed as a commercial community being the home of the island’s lone international airport at the time and became the supply center and trading post for the entire southern end of the island with a relatively small but thriving business community.

The high demand for bananas in a guaranteed UK market stimulated a boom in banana and other agricultural exports.

With growing recognition as an unspoilt tourism destination the island also saw rapid expansion of its tourism plant and increased tourist arrivals.

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Construction, tourism and bananas became the major economic planks of the economy with the benefits being enjoyed across all communities during the eighties and nineties.

With a rapidly growing and developing community in the north of the island driven by a tourism thrust, successive Governments since Independence in an effort to diversify the economy saw Vieux Fort with its vast flat lands and small population as the location for the next wave of commercial development resulting in it being labelled as the “New Frontier” of opportunity for investment and development.

Over the years many new projects and ideas were executed meant to propel the development of Vieux Fort. These included: the Castries to Vieux Fort Highway, new hotel construction, an industrial estate to position the town as a manufacturing center, a commercial sea port, a fish port complex, a commercial free zone, a livestock farm and dairy plant, an abbatoir to facilitate

livestock production and a modern athletic stadium among others.

and Development” generating the commercial activities and jobs that we need to provide for this community to prosper.

The most recent idea was to transform Vieux Fort into a “University Town” with the establishment of offshore medical universities attracting thousands of international students.

These ideas have all brought added value and diversity to the town and wider community resulting in continuous growth and development with the evolution of a new town center, demand for housing and other support commercial services. It is yet to deliver the expectations of “the New Frontier”.

Many Vieux Fortians have Big Dreams for the development of their community and believe that Vieux Fort will in fact become the New Frontier for investment. Debbie Tobiere lives that dream and has demonstrated her confidence in her community and the opportunities by taking the bold decision to lead the charge with major investments in commerce and real estate.

As at today – Vieux Fort remains the sleeping giant that needs to be awakened with an impetus of a planned long term Master Plan and Development Strategy that would ultimately allow it to lay claim to the title of “Saint Lucia’s New Frontier for Investment

Many others share her belief and confidence and are ready and willing to make similar investments.

It is our hope that the new Government will deliver on their election manifesto and implement the many substantial projects to stimulate economic activity and finally position Vieux Fort as ‘The New Frontier” where we can all benefit. ¤

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Hewanorra International Airport

Redeveloping Hewanorra International Airport A Prerequisite for Economic Expansion Hewanorra International Airport (HIA) is a major component of Saint Lucia’s tourism product, serving as the gateway to the international long-haul airlines that connect the island to the United States (US), Canada, Europe and the rest of the world.

HIA facilitates approximately 80% of all air traffic into the island.

Annually, the airport handles more than 15,000 domestic and international aircraft movements and in 2014 it recorded 614,754 arriving and departing passengers in addition to 125,010 in-transit passengers.

Growth of economies and globalization has seen demand for air travel advance rapidly in the last decade and economic and demographic evidence allude to this accelerating trend. A period of tremendous growth is on the horizon for the island’s tourism and travel industry and the redevelopment of the airport will ensure infrastructural and operational improvements that will facilitate an expected increase in passenger arrivals and aircraft landings. Based on trend analyses done for the airport, the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) is anticipating an increase in passenger traffic at the Hewanorra International Airport (HIA), which means the facilitation of approximately 700,000 passengers by the year 2017. Mindful of the aforementioned, the way forward must entail the development of HIA into a modern aerodrome.

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Airports worldwide are being modernized due to growing industry demands, to ensure more environmentally friendly operations are engaged, as well as aesthetically meeting the needs of the modern day traveler. If developments are not undertaken in the near future, SLASPA may also witness a negative change in the standard which has been maintained for customer comfort, convenience and safety over the years.

Therefore, the proposed redevelopment seeks to address seismic risk, provision of right-sized facilities, resolution of operational challenges, improvement in customer service, and accommodation of anticipated growth while maintaining competitive costs.

However, airport projects worldwide have become increasingly sophisticated and costly, consequently requiring financing strategies that include both public and private investment to complete an overall funding plan. Also, planning and constructing new infrastructure can potentially take an extremely long time and history has shown the construction of new airports and the expansion of existing ones tend to be highly controversial. To undertake a project of this nature, our country requires a development model that reduces construction risks, generates new revenue streams for SLASPA and the government, and transfers risks related to the operations and maintenance of

the airport to a third party, all while enabling the government to use its financial resources to attend to other pressing social and development needs.

Therefore, the proposal of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the redevelopment of Saint Lucia’s international airport was deemed most suitable by mutual agreement between the Government of Saint Lucia (GoSL), the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank. As business markets become national and international in scale, airports are increasingly being viewed as an incentive for local economic development.

Their ability to generate jobs and attract new business is being used in many countries as a justification for investment in new airport construction or expansion.

The implementation of a PPP as the preferred model to redevelop HIA, has numerous potential benefits to Saint Lucia.

While the typical focal point for capital investments tends to be fiscal risk, governments look to the private sector for other reasons. The selection of an agreement of this nature serves as an avenue to introduce private sector technology and innovation in providing better public services through improved operational efficiency. This agreement will also demonstrate the utilization of PPPs as a way of developing local private sector capabilities through joint ventures with large international firms, as well as sub-contracting opportunities for local firms in areas such as civil works, electrical works, facilities management, security services, cleaning services and maintenance services.

A PPP can also serve as a way of gradually exposing government and its agencies to increasing levels of private sector involvement, particularly from foreign investors; as well as the structuring of PPPs in a way so as to ensure a transfer of skills. It also has the potential to create diversification in the economy by making the country more competitive in terms of its facilitating infrastructural base as well as giving a boost to its business and industries associated with infrastructural development such as construction. Very importantly, such an arrangement promotes appropriate risk transfer to the private sector over the life of the project – from design, to construction, to operation and maintenance.

The economic importance of the redevelopment of HIA to Saint Lucia includes the potential to become a major generator of economic activity and source of motivation for a wide range of trade and industry activities. The modernized HIA can act as a strategic force by attracting new foreign investment from overseas companies, retaining and securing the expansion

of existing local businesses in the face of competition and promoting the success of businesses located in the vicinity. The airport development will also enhance the competitiveness of the economy through the fast and efficient delivery of passenger and freight services. Also, highly important is that it will act as a center of employment by generating demand for a wide range of skills.

Under this Public-Private Partnership, SLASPA envisions a 30year Master Plan for the long-term development of the airport, which takes into account optimal development in accordance with international best practices in airport design, territorial development and air transport management. Capital investment to be undertaken by the private operator will include all required development of airport facilities, particularly a New Terminal Building, Terminal Complex (including apron, road and parking) and Runway Rehabilitation. This Master Plan supports the PPP process with a robust roadmap for successful redevelopment to meet the needs of HIA’s stakeholders.

Currently, as prescribed by the Master Plan, capacity enhancing works required to be facilitated by the Authority in support of the redevelopment have commenced. These projects include construction of a new Air Traffic Control Tower and Technical Block, Parking Apron, Rehabilitation of the Turning Bay and upgrade of Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) and Gensets.

Simultaneously, pre-qualified bidders are being carefully evaluated for experience, financial solvency and reputation, among other issues. SLASPA’s Management and Technical Teams, along with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), remain committed to careful evaluation of the bids, with maximum transparency. Subsequent to conclusion of the bidding process, the intention is to award the contract to the successful bidder by July 2016, with projected commencement date for construction scheduled in January 2017.

In its entirety, the redevelopment of HIA through a PPP has significant benefits to SLASPA, the Government and the nation by extension and forms part of a bigger picture which creates a sustainable future for generations to come. SLASPA is working steadfastly with the support of the IFC and other stakeholders within the Saint Lucian context to ensure the successful conclusion of the development of the island’s international airport. The Authority reassures the public that the process has been transparent, all-encompassing and in keeping with international best practice. For all intent and purpose, the redevelopment of the Hewanorra International Airport as an Aerodrome has commenced and is well on its way to successful completion. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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LUCELEC to Construct 3MW Solar Power Park in Vieux Fort To Be the First Utility-Scale Solar PV Project in Saint Lucia BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) has taken a historical step in assisting with the design of a viable energy transition strategy for the country. The power company has began the process of constructing a 3MW Solar Power Park which is anticipated to provide over 5 percent of the power generation needs of the island, and will be managed by LUCELEC to ensure continued grid stability.

LUCELEC has signed an agreement for the development of an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Government of Saint Lucia. It will make provision for a team of independent consultants from Carbon War Room (CWR), Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and DNV GL, to assist both parties in designing a viable energy transition strategy for Saint Lucia.

What this means is, the team will develop a plan for how best Saint Lucia will be able to move its energy sector from where it is now to where it needs to be, to give effect to the goals and objectives of the National Energy Policy.

According to LUCELEC Managing Director Mr. Trevor Louisy, the intention is to have at least one megawatt of solar power commissioned by the end of this year, and then add the remaining two megawatts subsequently.

The plan will determine how best to integrate the optimum mix of renewable energies into the national energy grid, at the least cost, without compromising the stability and reliability of the electricity system. It will determine what improvements need to be made to the electricity infrastructure (transmission and distribution systems) on the island, and how best to ensure that LUCELEC remains viable, given that the electricity system underpins Saint Lucia’s economy. The process will also allow for public input into the strategy.

A recent meeting and site visit for interested bidders attracted seventy representatives from thirty-five companies from the US, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, many of whom are partnering with local solar, engineering and construction firms.

The 3 MW Solar Park will be located north of the Hewanorra International Airport at La Tourney, Vieux Fort and represents the first utility-scale solar PV project in Saint Lucia. The project is being funded by LUCELEC. Requests for proposals have been circulated internationally to Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) firms who will design and build the solar park that will be owned and operated

by LUCELEC. LUCELEC will provide the necessary sites and utility infrastructure for the project, and the RFP details the technical requirements. The RFP was developed with the assistance of Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), RMI-CWR, DNV GL and the Government of Saint Lucia.

CCI and RMI-CWR are neutral, objective, non-profit organizations with no special interests or preferred vendors. The team works with Caribbean partners to create an open, fair and competitive marketplace for renewables.

Meeting participants received an overview of the project and its importance to Saint Lucia, and information on Saint Lucia’s energy transition strategy and the RFP process. They were also given the opportunity to ask questions and get clarification on the project, and to examine the proposed site at La Tourney, Vieux Fort first-hand to assist them in preparing their bids.

LUCELEC’s Business Development Manager Mr. Victor Emmanuel is the company lead on the project and explains that although there are currently about 50 small solar photovoltaic (PV) systems connected to the LUCELEC grid, providing about 500 kilowatts of electricity from renewable sources. The 3MW solar farm is historic in that it will be the first utility scale and largest renewable energy project in Saint Lucia.

The solar farm demonstrates LUCELEC’s and the Government of Saint Lucia’s continued commitment to the energy transition process they agreed to when they signed the National Energy Transition Strategy in January 2016. ¤

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Committed to Vieux Fort The Early Days Vieux Fort is a large and expansive region with magnificent vistas and beautiful unspoilt beaches to include the largest areas of flat lands in the island. This has resulted in the area being home to the island’s major international airport and has thrust it into the spotlight as a priority area for development.

Since Independence in 1979, the national thrust has been on agriculture and tourism as the primary industries with Vieux Fort being identified as the primary base for industrial development.

Debra Tobierre was born on July 21st, 1971 to Keifer & Theresa Vitalis and raised in the small community of Vieux Fort. This humble family were steeped in the traditional values of setting high standards and aiming for success in their endeavors, whilst at the same time sharing their time, energy and resources in helping the people and their community to be a better place.

A young Debra and her siblings were exposed to the simple life and enjoyed spending lots of time at the beach which was a natural pastime for residents and a favourite playground of her parents, who still share a deep passion for enjoying the sea.

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Debra attended school in Vieux Fort and then the United States after her parents migrated to seek higher education in their chosen professional medical careers. Whilst in the USA, Debra was a witness to the hard work and dedication of her parents in trying to improve their lives and at the same time realize their dreams of returning to St Lucia and becoming entrepreneurs.

The family returned to St Lucia and their professional medical careers at St Judes Hospital in Vieux Fort in 1985. After a short period and a burning desire to realize their dreams, they defied the odds and ventured into business with the opening of a Store called Shop & Save. With some degree of success they subsequently expanded with the opening of Builders Choice as they ventured into the building supplies sector and have since grown to be recognized as a major business success story.

Debra and her siblings were being groomed to focus on the importance of good standards and morals, and the benefits of higher education for a future in their chosen profession. .

The values, efforts and attitude of their parents were regular reminders of the possibilities for growth and a good life for the future.

The Making of an Entrepreneur In 1987, a sixteen year old Debra met and fell in love with an ambitious and driven young man in the Vieux Fort community who would later become her husband. Fast track a few years and you would find a pregnant Debra making a bold choice to relocate to the US to start her family. Her then partner Miller Tobierre would subsequently follow her. There he found work in Florida in the construction industry, whilst Debra stayed home raising three young children. Living in Florida on a single income, Debra and her family experienced the difficulties in this new environment. Despite the challenges of being a young mother, Debra, began to look for opportunities to support her husband and family and ultimately improve the quality of their lives.

Debra although immersed in her new life as mother and partner, grasped the opportunity when it presented itself to learn about business by assisting her parents with procuring specialty items for their business back home. She then later went on to be employed for short periods, the first of which was as a Store Room Clerk at Captain Harry’s Fishing Supplies. Then later as a Sales Associate at Burdines Department Store and then as a Reservations Agent at Carnival Cruise Lines Call center. .

After spending 6 years in Florida, through the encouragement of her parents and the challenges and demands of their growing business, Debbie and her family made the bold decision to return to St Lucia in 1995, with both her husband and herself

being employed at Builders Choice. Debra and her husband honed their skills at leadership and operations at Builders Choice which gave them total exposure to the hardware, lumber and building materials business. They were involved with her parents in growing the business by expanding the range of products and services offered and implementing new controls and operating systems.

After spending two and a half years working at Builders Choice, Debra and Miller Tobierre found themselves on differing viewpoints with Her mother and father regarding to the operations of the company which resulted in the severing of their business relationship. This new turn of events forced them to use their experience to branch out on their own, , and so in 1998 they took the bold step to establish True Value Building and Hardware Supplies.

Debra is passionate that the opportunities available in Vieux Fort can truly be realized and maximized to position the town as “The New Frontier� for investment and development.

The decision to venture into private enterprise was the culmination of her belief that she can realize her dreams and challenge herself to become a successful entrepreneur and exploit the other opportunities that would allow her to grow in, and with Vieux Fort.

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Growing with Opportunity For these first time business owners, Debra and Miller were able to rise to the daily challenges that faced the company with fortitude and resilience. Despite the saturation of the market at the time they were confident that their requisite skills and creative approach would distinguish them from their competitors. The rapid development of the tourism and housing sectors and a resultant boom in the construction sector in the north of the island created a high demand for land which became expensive and in short supply. This coupled with the failings of the once dominant banana industry forced the new Government which came into office in 1997 to look into new areas of opportunity for economic growth.

increased demand for services. This was further enhanced with the opening up of lands for housing and the return of St Lucians living abroad building retirement and investment properties, which created further opportunities for the commercial community.

A strategic decision was made to position Vieux Fort and environs as the area of opportunity to diversify the economy and create new areas of investment due to the vast lands that were available in the south.

This boom became the catalyst for rapid growth and commercial progress of True Value Building & Hardware Supplies. The company made great strides in setting new standards and delivering new services which catapulted it ahead of the competition and positioned it as the leading Hardware, Lumber and Building Materials supplier. Within five years of opening, Debra’s success allowed her to purchase property and construct the most modern, fully air conditioned Hardware, Lumber and Building Supplies store in Vieux Fort with an expanded range of products and services which now not only services Vieux Fort and environs but the entire island.

Already established as an industrial and manufacturing base with several well established and long serving manufacturers operating in the Industrial Estate, Vieux Fort has grown in both economic activity and population and with that growth came an

Good leadership, use of technology, a highly motivated staff and quality customer service have been the pivotal elements that have resulted in the success story that is True Value Building and Hardware Supplies today.

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Expansion and Diversification Debra and her team have not rested on the laurels of their success with True Value. As a shrewd and assertive business leader Debra has seen the need to diversify and expand her investment portfolio in a related area of business. .

One such opportunity she firmly set her focus on was the Real Estate sector which would allow her to capitalize on the support of her building supplies operation and her husband’s construction experience. She saw the need for high quality residential accommodation with a growing cadre of high earning professionals and business persons from Vieux Fort augmented by a high demand for diaspora and international retirees, at the time This led to the purchase of a large acreage of virgin lands at Savannes, Vieux Fort which she used to create and develop “Emerald Vista” as a model upscale residential community in the community of Vieux Fort.

In spite of the turn in the real estate market, Debra remained commited to her original vision for maintaining the architectural theme and standard of the community. and has since progressed with Palmiste Cove a second real estate development targeting middle income home owners.

With her success at True Value and the property developments , added with her involvement in the community, Debra’s became a very well recognized personality across Vieux Fort and environs and was very involved in the decision making process on issues affecting the community.

This progressive and positive attitude was recognized by Prime Minister Dr. Kenny D. Anthony who reached out to her to work

closely with him in supporting the developing of Vieux Fort. Her energy and resourcefulness impacted positively on the Prime Minister and she was subsequently thrust into the national spotlight after the elections held in 2011 when she was named a Government Senator serving in the upper house, for the past four and a half years.

Despite this added responsibility Debra continues to pursue opportunities to not only improve her businesses, but also to improve her community of Vieux Fort.

An important ingredient in the process of any expansion and any family owned enterprise is the availability of trained, capable and committed leadership.

Debra has invested in the development of her three children and she has ensured that they were channeled into boosting their academic careers. Today, they have now grown into young progressive adults with new and progressive ideas and new generation technological skills which can only add value to her business interests. With the prospects of their return to St Lucia and the interest in joining the family business, Debra has been assured that there will be the addition of key leadership and management to support her foray into new ventures related to her current base as well as new opportunities utilizing the skillset of her children as a key ingredient.

Her older daughter is currently involved in the operations of True Value Hardware and her son has recently joined the family business supporting with the sale of property at both Emerald Vista and Palmiste Cove real estate developments.

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True Value Setting New Standards of Service

What has turned out to be a truly inspiring story of fortitude and perseverance began in October 1998 when a determined Debra & Miller Tobierre decided to venture into owning and operating a business having exited Builders Choice.

The company’s start was very humbling as they were unable to secure a Bank loan with the small investment they had received. The operations began from a row of derelict warehouse buildings located on the St Jude Highway in Vieux Fort. As with the start of many businesses, they too found that it was a rocky one with low stocking levels and limited product range. Debra began to look into methods to keep and satisfy her customers despite those challenges. She would source and purchase the items that she currently didn’t have in stock from other local suppliers to ensure that she met the needs of her customers.

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Debra’s vision was to provide a complete range of building materials for her customers, while providing them with service unheard of on the island at the time. She built her business from the ground up by focusing on the needs of every single customer who walked through her doors.

Ensuring that they left having gotten what they came in for. Although the market environment was saturated with other Building supply companies, due to Debra business approach and customer service, True Value was able to expand from one warehouse bay into almost the entire row of warehouses. Eventually the operations of the business required more than their location could offer, and so a plan was formed to purchase property on which they could construct their ideal retail outlet.

After some difficulties with building on a new piece of property that was purchased within close proximity to the island’s international airport, Debra bought the entire row of buildings the store currently occupied, and expanded True Value in 2005 into the state of the art facility that would allow for more efficient service to customers in a comfortable environment. Endeavoring to cater to her customers’ needs also led Debra to set up a Canteen in store that provides breakfast and lunch to those busy customers and contractors, who are only able to leave their construction sites/ place of business for a short while to complete their purchases.

Over the years with the fluctuations in the economy, Debra and her team has had to employ innovative strategies to ensure customer retention as well as develop new business relationships. Debra has continued to perfect her customer service approach with offering such as, free delivery, contractors’ special discount, price matching on items of same quality from competitors, and special order services on any merchandise that are not currently stocked in store.

True Value Building & Hardware Supplies personifies its tagline of “True Quality for our Valued Customers”. The Company will be celebrating 18 years in operation this year and remains as Customer centric as it was at inception.

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You’ve made the effort and achieved the results

Now it’s your time to breathe....

With her extensive knowledge in the field, having supplied lumber and hardware through True Value Building & Hardware Supplies to similar projects for more than thirteen years, coupled with her business acumen, Debra created her niche in the real estate market and launched Emerald Vista Luxury Residences.

“Imagine waking to a tranquil sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the lush, tropical landscape found on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. Through full pane windows you admire the breath-taking view of the southern tip of the island, including Scorpion and Maria islets.”

Debra and her team ensure that these residences are comfortable, luxurious yet functional, timeless and secure. She approached this development as she did with everything else, with forethought and attention to detail, utilizing the topography of the development to ensure that every home has a magnificent oceanic view.

For overseas residents seeking home ownership at Emerald Vista, Debra has equipped herself with the tools to simplify processes and ensure a smooth transition. There are currently three architectural designs to choose from, which are featured on the Emerald Vista website. She has conceptualized them to fit a wide range of styles and tastes, and also allows for modifications from clients.

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Debra’s desire to connect with her clients during each phase of the building process ensures that their home is built with a healthy level of their input along with her promise of high quality and an expert, modern finish. Features like the client area on the website, give clients the opportunity to closely follow the construction progress of their home through weekly updates of photographs until completion of their residence.

Emerald Vista comprises of forty fully serviced lots. To date there are five completed luxury residences in the development, four of which are occupied, with the original Model Home currently on the market for sale.

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a modern community...

PALMISTE COVE

Picturesque views, sloping landscape, cool ocean breeze, these are all the markers Debra needed to make the decision to forge ahead with her second development called Palmiste Cove. Fresh from the experience of her first foray into property development, she saw an opportunity to provide a different middle income housing product, utilizing more modern architectural aesthetics both inside and out. Palmiste Cove comprises of 31 lots overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and with fantastic views of Scorpion and Maria Islet.

As a conscientious developer Debra and her team continue to apply the same customer service mandate from True value to this area of the business as well, by handling the application process and other requirements for both overseas clients and locals alike. To date there have been a total of eight lots sold, with one fully completed Model home and another project currently in the build phase. Design plans whilst following a modern theme are customized to the needs of the specific client.

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IMAGE

An Interview with Debra Tobierre

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An Interview with Debra Tobierre Debbie as she is familiarly called is driven by a passion to succeed and is no stranger to the spotlight, or shy when it comes to sharing her passion to see her community of Vieux Fort grow and materialize into the commercial mecca, that many believe it can be. Especially having been labeled as “The New Frontier� for investment and development.

In a recent interview with Debra, Business Focus was able to learn so much more about this unassuming woman who has risen to prominence with the challenge of circumstances and the gift of an entrepreneurial spirit inherited from her parents and honed with experience and opportunity.

BF: Where did your zeal for business start?

Debra: I started working with my

parents at an early age; doing book keeping; managing payables and general operations. As a young wife and mother, I developed the discipline of not compromising on obligations with regards to running my household, so I applied the same principles ensuring that bills, loans, salaries etc. were always dealt with in a timely manner. I created processes to assist me with daily reconciliation on the accounts, charting 4-6 week cash projections; both of which are strategies that I use today to ensure our businesses remain viable. .

Two and a half years into the professional relationship with my parents we parted ways because of a difference in operational strategies and vision of where the company should go. I left home and St. Lucia for Miami in 1989 with my husband and first child. The sense of curiosity and persistence despite failure are some of the things that I learnt from my parents.

Whilst living in Miami, I became the purchaser for my parents businesses. They would have me hit the Miami district in search of items for them to sell and again, I employed the art of practical economics; always searching for the best deals.

When I returned to St. Lucia I started my business in hardware and lumber with an investment of EC$85000. I chose that industry because it was familiar and it was what I was comfortable with.

BF: What motivates you to keep striving for success?

Debra: Not becoming a statistic because

I chose to marry young and have children young. While I have no formal university education; I just rely on my keen sense of business and practical nature. I was raised as a leader having been the first born of my parents, and decision maker, although I will admit that I probably could have been a much better government senator if I was more well-read but I am a student of the University of life and hard knocks.

BF: What are some of the strategies you implement to ensure your business thrives?

Debra: Strategies that work; outdoor

sales; being proactive in customer retention, monitoring their projects

and remaining one step ahead of the competition so as to generate potential sales.

I have a very strong will but when it comes to the customer a certain amount of flexibility is required and even mandatory.

This has worked well for us especially with the Emerald Vista real estate project. It is also important to have a vested interest in things that do not necessarily have anything to do with the primary business; these help to facilitate the sales, build credibility and maintain a good reputation of trust with clients.

BF: What do you think it will take to make Vieux Fort the next “New Frontier” as projected?

Debra: It will take local business investors

that believe that Vieux Fort will be the new frontier. Rather than wait for government to start and then act.

There is a culture of a dependency syndrome that we are cultivating which is not healthy and we are producing young people who are not taking responsibility for their actions.

BF: What is your vision for Vieux Fort?

Debra: My vision for Vieux Fort is that

old rustic feel of having the people being able to gather on an evening; sort of like a boardwalk with boutique stores and restaurants that encourages people to walk through.

I would like to see a marina development and beach development that compliments the town center as well.

I believe that we can enhance the town by unveiling the rich history of Vieux Fort to attract tourists and investments.

I also think there is a lot of merit and potential in the idea of a making Vieux Fort a University Town and that many small businesses can benefit from that.

This can also create the potential for a growth in the real estate market if that came through.

BF: Do you think that being a woman has added to the challenges of being an entrepreneur?

Debra: There are things that are inherent

to being a woman that put you in a better position to be a CEO. The compassion and natural nurturing aspect of being a woman allows me to be very sensitive

to my employees’ needs. Therefore, I would say capitalize on the things that are uniquely female and allow you to be excellent at business administration rather than allowing it to be any sort of handicap.

BF: What’s next for Debbie?

Debra: My parents are very special to

me and they are progressing in age and need to enjoy their later years doing the things they love and enjoy. I can envision that there could be a possible merger of True Value and my parents business “Builders Choice”. There are a lot of synergies which would make this logical and I am completely open to the idea, especially with the support of my son and daughter who have willingly come into the business.

I am also deeply committed to my next real estate project of constructing a low income housing development.

If anything Emerald Vista and Palmiste Cove have both taught me lessons of dedication and perseverance and I profoundly enjoy the entire process of watching these projects develop from a vision to a reality.

I would also love to get a chance to go back to dive fishing, which is a passion of mine and which I have been unable to do for too many years because I have been so busy. But under the water away from everything is where I get my peace and clarity, and I would like to take it up again.

BF: What would be your advice to the young people of Vieux Fort who share the passion of wanting to emulate Debbie and similar entrepreneurs by setting up business in Vieux Fort?

Debra: I would tell them, that no matter

what your passion or talent maybe, that there are specific fundamentals that lead to success in any type of business be it supply of goods or services. I always advise aspiring entrepreneurs to keep the satisfaction of four groups of individuals at the center of their effort. Primarily your customers, your employees, your suppliers, and your financers. Recognizing the importance of their role in your success translates to a constant desire to ensure that their needs are met. Which means that your commitment to them is constantly at the center of what you do.

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Philanthropy Caring for Our People and Community Southern Flying Fish Swim Club

Do it your self work shop (making and painting picture frames) Vieux Fort Children’s Society

Debra knows that she has not only her family and employees to thank for her success, but her community as well. She has ensured that the company’s Corporate Social responsibility is geared towards not only providing assistance to those within the community who are less fortunate, but also on Education and Youth oriented initiatives. In this regard she set up a small donation fund from which she assists various schools and other charitable organization. In 2015 Debra through True Value donated five thousand dollars’ worth of building material to The Vieux Fort Children’s Society to aid in the construction of a home for orphaned and abused Children in Vieux Fort. Debra along with her team members spear headed the repainting and minor repair of the Vieux Fort Public Library, and also solicited assistance in the form of material from a few other businesses in the community.

On a particular visit to the Special Education School in Vieux-fort Debra took a special interest in how the teachers were able to accomplish so much for the students with limited resources, so she placed them on a small monthly contribution program with the company.

Debra is not only giving when it comes to financial assistance but also with her home as well. Just ask those who frequent her home every Saturday from the Southern Flying Fish Swim Club to use the pool to teach children how to swim.

Debra knows that her staff members are the backbone of the business, so she ensures that every single employee is paid a fair salary, taking into consideration the cost of living today.

Their well-being on the job is also of paramount importance to her so she instituted the staff kitchen to prepare healthy lunches for her staff at a subsidized cost of only $5.00 per day, which also comes with a fresh glass of local juice. Debra thinks of her employees as an extension of her family and has stepped in to assist them personally on many occasions.

In 2013 through True Value, Debra spearheaded initiatives such as the Southern Business Symposium, an annual forum where government and other organizations can present to the private sector their plans for development of Saint Lucia and more specifically the Southern Community. They have also staged activities geared towards children in the communities like children’s do it yourself workshops and Annual Easter egg hunts.

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Builder’s Choice

A Passion for Success With Customer Service at the Heart

Keifer and Theresa Vitalis ventured into entrepreneurship in Vieux Fort at a time when the demand was plenteous, customers were eager shoppers and the price for making mistakes was not as costly.

The young couple met and worked at the St. Jude’s Hospital, Keifer as a Laboratory Technician and Theresa as a Mid-Wife.

Keifer who has an insatiable thirst for knowledge left St. Lucia in the 1970’s to train and educate himself further in his field. Later his wife joined him in Seattle, USA where they raised a family and started exploring entrepreneurial possibilities quite outside of the field of his chosen professional career.

“I ran my unprofitable business from my garage selling ponchos from Ecuador” Keifer reminisces gleefully, thinking back to the early days. “It wasn’t expensive to pay the price for making mistakes then, and though the business was unprofitable, I was richer in the experience it brought; marketing myself and advertising my product.”

Keifer equipped himself with knowledge of book keeping, and took courses with the Small Business Administration absorbing all he could from a trusted advisor. His intention was to delve fully into the world of business one day but not before returning to St Lucia and St. Jude’s Hospital to share the expertise and knowledge he and his wife had acquired.

“Well that never really worked out as planned,” says Theresa Vitalis, “We worked at St Jude’s for only a year upon our return to St Lucia in the 1980’s.

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And so in 1987 Shop and Save was born with the support and blessing of Keifer’s parents who offered their property as bank security to facilitate working capital. Shop and Save was a variety store selling electronics, musical instruments, chinaware, televisions and every knick knack you could possibly want. “We convinced our customers that if they needed it we had it and if we didn’t have it; it was because it wasn’t available” Theresa comments, thinking back on what made their first store a success.

Shop and Save offered exceptional customer service being one of the first stores in Vieux Fort to remain open throughout lunch time. Though it was a rough start with little encouragement from financial institutions Shop and Save got off the ground and far exceeded the sales projections that had been forecasted.

While it is their love for people, nurtured from being in the medical field, that led them into business, the dawn of Builder’s Choice came out of the frustration experienced with sourcing materials and items for renovating their own home and similar comments from other persons in the community. “There was a need for an elevated level of customer service and businesses that really served people,” says Theresa.

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And so, outside an age of the internet where one can simply google information on a business they had no knowledge of; and equipped with as much book knowledge as he could gather, and by studying their competitors and asking questions, Theresa and Keifer Vitalis opened Builder’s Choice. Again at the time, there was room for one more Building Supplies and Lumber Store and their major competitors at that time were Playboy and Poyotte Enterprises. They kept their customers coming back and attracted new customers with exceptional customer service; offering deliveries for instance in a time when that was a scarce service and always walking the customer through the buying process to ensure that they were purchasing exactly what they needed.

Today the building supplies and lumber market is highly competitive and completely saturated. Builder’s Choice has watched many of their early competitors close their doors while they grew and remained a pillar in the community. “I believe it all has to do with service. You have to go out and seek your clients and move and grow with them,” Theresa says on why she thinks they have continued to remain successful. “We also put God first. He is the source of all of our strength and the reason for everything we do.”

Keifer also believes in remaining updated with technological advances, “I would dread to imagine being in business today and not having equipped yourself on how to use a computer, the internet, and a smart phone.” Keifer, acknowledges that there are people his age who have an aversion to technology and learning how to use it. “Even young people who have the latest gadgets do not seem to realize the true potential of what they have; the internet gives us an opportunity to start new businesses and meet new demands.”

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This savvy and visionary couple seem very far from retiring even though they have been in business for over thirty years.

Their plans for continuity of their established business are vague. Except for a possible merger with their daughter Debbie Tobierre; they have no concrete retirement plans.

“True retirement is laying in a box with a lily” joked Keifer, “but seriously my idea of retirement is not having things that I absolutely have to do but being able to do the things that I want to do.”

Instead of real retirement talk, there are discussions for further expansion of their business portfolio to include a new community supermarket, and delving further into their farming business to discover the medical potential of some of our herbs and local vegetables. Keifer and Theresa enjoy fishing and sailing

and would also like to spend more time on the open waters. But don’t expect these two to sail into the sunset anytime soon.

These veteran entrepreneurs still have a lot to offer including these words of wisdom for young entrepreneurs “feed your mind with positivity and break away from the pack. Realize opportunities and create your own.” Keifer says that growing up he was always looking for opportunities to associate himself with persons who would develop and grow him. He remembers reciting a beloved poem that was taught at school; one that has since become his mantra and motivation: Drive the nail aright, boys; Hit it on the heads; Strike with all your might, boys, While the iron’s red.

When you’ve work to do, boys, Do it with a will; They who reach the top, boys, First must climb the hill.

Standing at the foot, boys, Looking at the sky, How can you get up, boys, If you never try ?

Though you stumble oft, boys, Never be downcast; Try and try again, boys, You will win at last.

Drive the nail aright, boys ; Hit it on the head ; Strike with all your might, boys, While the iron’s red.

The story and successes of Theresa and Keifer Vitalis are exemplary and is a model worth emulating. Simple people with a shared vision of quality customer service, a keen eye for opportunity, good values, a sense of community and a passion for success. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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LUBECO Creating a Regional Brand and a Legacy Some twenty five years ago the Allain family took the challenge to establish LUBECO as a pioneering bedding manufacturing enterprise in purpose built Vieux Fort Industrial Estate.

The company started operations forming strategic partnerships with international bedding manufacturers producing high quality bedding products under license.

With rapid economic development in housing and hotel and resort development across the region, the company has been able to grow its base and expand on its range of offerings venturing into soft furnishings.

Today this company has much to celebrate having carved a name for the LUBECO brand across the region as a principal manufacturer of quality bedding and related soft furnishings.

Such is the foundation and history of one of Saint Lucia’s leading manufacturers of spring-filled sleep products and soft furnishings – LUBECO. Its location in St. Lucia puts LUBECO at the heart of the Eastern Caribbean, a position well equipped to supply and service this vital and still emerging market.

LUBECO offers both the comfort and quality of complete rest with quality beds orthopedically designed and tested by leading therapists in the United States and comply with the American Sleep Products Association standards.

Their products are made with the same fine components, under the license of Leggett & Platt, as those used by major United States bed manufacturers.

Despite having established a regional clientele of agents and distributors, the company has transitioned leadership to the next generation of the Allain family and has recently launched the first of its LUBECO Stores in Barbados.

As a significant contributor to the economy of the Vieux Fort and environs we wish them continued success. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Taste A Piece Of

Paradise At

Soufriere Estate

Explore the Diamond Falls, Mineral Baths & Botanical Gardens

Soufriere, St. lucia W.I. Tel: 1(758) 459-7155 Email: soufestate@candw.lc Website: www.diamondstlucia.com

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IMAGE

Providing Rock Solid Blocks and Concrete Building on the foundation of a collective idea, Wilrock Limited stands today as one of the most formidable and lucrative establishments operating in the south of Saint Lucia.

Like most businesses Wilrock was born out of an identified need at the time and was cemented with the official commissioning of the Wilrock quarry in 1992 under the direction of Managing Director Urban Wilson – one of a family of five brothers including Peter, Norbert, Henry, and Gilbert who are all shareholders of the establishment.

Together this award-winning company has dedicated almost three decades of service to Saint Lucia by providing quality stone and aggregate that only gets better with time and improving technologies. Today the company can stand comfortably beside any competitor on the international stage.

The company has over the years been able to capture and grow as a significant exporter of its products regionally. On the local market, Wilrock has since expanded its product offerings to include quality concrete blocks which are being sold across the island.

“Because we value the relationship we have with our customers we ensure that the best service is provided. We are also socially conscious and ethically responsible as is continuously demonstrated through our business practices and philanthropic efforts,” according to the company’s mission statement.

Today Wilrock continues to literally provide the building block for development in Saint Lucia and it strives to continuously lead the industry in the supply of the best quality stone products and concrete in the Caribbean. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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“WORKING TO BUILD A STRONGER NATION” Your home is the biggest investment you will make in your lifetime.

Caribbean Metals Limited ensures that your home will be secure from foundation to roof, with our commitment to the strength and quality of the products we sell.

Is it time to replace your leaking/ outdated roof? Or you’re searching for a top quality – yet affordable METAL ROOFING SYSTEM? Our roofing systems are designed especially for those who want the very best in modern roofing and are tested in the harshest environments from sun, rain and winds.

CARIBBEAN METALS LTD VISIT OUR OFFICE AT UNION INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, UNION, ST LUCIA TEL: 1(758) 450-2249 • FAX: 1(758) 450-2989 VIEUX FORT TEL: 1(758) 454 (EVER)3837

BRI

Vieux Fort Plaza Tel: 1 (758) 454-3245 Fax: 1 (758) 454-7673 Email: genproltd@candw.lc

“ A Great Shopping Experience” Computer Services/Accessories/Tutoring Cell Phones/Accessories/Repairs Supermarket Food Court Ice Cream Parlor Men's Clothing Women's Clothing Variety Store Book Store Insurance Photoshop Medical Center Pediatrician

EMAIL: cmetals@candw.lc WEBSITE: www.caribbeanmetalslimited.com www.facebook.com /caribbeanmetalslimited

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Windward & Leeward Brewery Ltd

Celebrating 40 Years of Manufacturing Excellence and Award Winning Products

Windward and Leeward Brewery Limited was established in Vieux Fort and commenced production in November 1975 to manufacture Heineken Beer under franchise from its Dutch parent company Heineken as a major shareholder. The brewery’s capacity at startup was 50,000 hectolitres with a workforce of 60 employees. The company produced 750,000 cases of beer annually, for sale on the local and OECS markets.

Today the workforce has grown to 101 employees and the company serves the not only the domestic market and the OECS countries, but also Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Anguilla, BVI and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2016 the company celebrated its 40th Anniversary of business operations during which it honoured its long serving employees, distributors and consumers across St Lucia.

The company continues to celebrate with its Piton Beer - La Biere Sent Lisi (the Beer of St. Lucia) being awarded a Gold International Quality Award once again at the 2016 Monde Selection International Institute for Quality Selections. Piton Beer previously won the Silver Medal in February 1993 and the Gold Medal in September 1994.

“This is a great achievement for us here at WLBL and in Saint Lucia. We should all be proud that we can produce such a high quality beverage that can compete with other global bands. This shows how our people, passion and brewing process has great quality that is recognised internationally. This Gold Medal belongs to our people. We have also developed a widespread campaign surrounding this great achievement to shout to the world that Piton Beer is a world class beer and we are proud of it!” stated Sebastian Sanchez, Managing Director of Windward & Leeward Brewery Ltd. Piton Beer, a refreshing mountain brew was officially launched in the Saint Lucian market on October 7, 1992. The brand makes Saint Lucians feel proud, not only because of its internationally recognized quality, but also because it represents the essence of Saint Lucia in Carnival, Jounen Kwéyòl, Parties, Fetes and family gatherings.

The Brewery currently produces a wide range of beverage products and represents a proud legacy of manufacturing in St Lucia where it is a mainstay in the community of Vieux Fort and a key contributor to St Lucia’s export earnings. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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ESSENTIAL HARDWARE LIMITED TAKES ITS GREAT SOUTHERN SHOPPING EXPERIENCE NATIONWIDE! Essential Hardware Limited - a member of the Gafsons Group of Companies with operations in Guyana, Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia, established operations in St. Lucia in 1999 in the Industrial Estate, Vieux Fort. The company continues to be confident about developments in the South of the island. In October of 2015, it established a full service hardware branch on the Vieux Fort/Laborie Highway. Our strategy is to establish a branch in all major communities Nationwide.

Today, Essential Hardware Limited operates four Branches in the following locations – 1. Industrial Estate, Vieux Fort, 2. Vieux Fort/Laborie Highway, 3. Cul D’ Sac/Bexon Highway, and 4. Bois D’ Orange, Gros Islet.

Essential Hardware Limited is the Distributor for Steel Roofing Sheets produced by its associate company - New Frontier Industries Limited which operates in the Industrial Estate, Vieux Fort, and produces Galvalume Steel Roofing Sheets in two profiles – Corrugated and U-Panel, up to 50 feet in length. The flexibility in length offers substantial savings to contractors and home owners. No overlapping, no wastage.

The slogan - “The Name You Can Trust” is a way a life. The Directors, Management and Employees are committed to providing quality products at affordable prices, backed by customer service that exceeds expectations. The Company offers customers a unique experience of shopping at four branches from one convenient location.

Essential Hardware Limited is the Distributor for ARAWAK Cement. Apart from our competitive retail price, arrangements can be made for delivery ex-ship at considerable saving.

A special service is offered to persons seeking to build or renovate residential buildings by providing Discounted Quotations for lending institutions.

Contractors are welcomed, and special discounts are applied to quantity purchases.

From the Foundation to the Roof - Inside & Outside! EHL offers a wide range of construction, household, and electrical products, including – ARAWAK Cement, Steel Rods, Doors, Aluminum and PVC Windows, and much more. ¤ When You Need Real Savings, visit Essential Hardware Limited.

Essential Hardware Limited – Head Office - Industrial Estate, Vieux Fort, St. Lucia. Tel: 758-454-5545, Fax: 758-454-8734, P.O. Box 771, Gablewoods - South, Vieux Fort, Email: essentialhardwareltd@yahoo.com Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/essentialhardwareltd BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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International American University Since its inception over 12 years ago, International American University, located at Vieux Fort in St. Lucia, has experienced notable growth in student enrollment and recognition for its community engagement activities. The success both in the classroom and in the community indicates its commitment to bringing about significant economic, social and academic development for local residents. The diversity of degrees and courses offered is not only commendable but truly outstanding as IAU strives to maintain excellence through hiring skilled and expert faculty and recruiting students from all over the world.

The initial vision for IAU began as a series of conversations among like-minded educational and healthcare entrepreneurs, and came to fruition in February 2004 during its groundbreaking in Fort Vieux, St. Lucia, inspiring a path of success and excellence.

Staying in line with its strategic priorities and core values, IAU believes in steady growth by following the attitude of positivity and improvement and has experienced more than a 200 percent increase in enrollment over the past five years, enrolling students following their dreams of becoming a doctor. Over 85 percent of students are from the United States and Canada, however due to recent increased international recruitment, 35 percent are from the Middle East, India and Africa. Due in part to IAU’s generous full-tuition scholarship for the residents of St. Lucia and notoriety among the Caribbean, students from St. Lucia and the islands are also among the student population.

The business opportunities offered by IAU is in great favor of the local community and the institution has been received only with optimistic reaction from island residents. The University believes in returning the kindness in benefit of the local population by offering several outreach activities such as free hypertension and diabetic screenings, CPR training to the Emergency Medical Service Team, diabetic training, and hosting seminars and weekly health clinics. IAU organizes blood donation drives twice a year which has been helpful to local hospitals. IAU was honored with the Corporate Social Responsibility award in 2014 at the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture’s St. Lucia Business Awards for incorporating the ideals of corporate responsibility in their business operations and philosophy. No wonder many of the residents refer to IAU as a blessing to the local community.

IAU has been helping out St. Lucians, who need financial aid, in achieving their dreams of becoming doctors by offering an exclusive full-tuition scholarship program. The scholarship, for all qualified St. Lucians, provides a 100 percent tuition fee waiver for the four semesters of Basic Sciences education at the university.

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Today, International American University, which has now become a household name in St. Lucia, can be proud of its monumental achievement of creating a positive impact on the lives of residents of the island, especially Vieux-Fort where the university is located. Their social, economic and academic impacts have worked wonders for the community, which sees the university as more than just a learning institution. One resident described it as a, “Godsend.”

The university’s economic impact in Vieux Fort and its surrounding area is tremendous. On average, a student spends approximately $52,000 XCD per year in the island and a faculty member spends approximately $64.000 XCD per year.

The business community in Vieux-Fort benefits a great deal from this, especially the housing sector. A number of small businesses have grown over the years because of the amount of money the university injects into the community. Some residents have even opened small businesses targeting the university as their market and so far they are satisfied with the progress.

The social interaction between students of IAU and the local community is also of value to residents. It results in interesting cultural exchanges and experiences for both St. Lucian residents and students.

The university is now focusing on its very promising future, ensuring its continuity to improve the level of education provided to students, IAU has purchased a portion of land in Vieux-Fort to construct a permanent campus. The campus will be constructed on a 10 acre portion of land and will provide close to 170,000 sq. ft. of floor space. It will contain Wi-Fi classrooms, a multi-story library, a fully equipped learning center, study rooms and administrative and faculty offices. Despite the large size of the campus, IAU will still keep its commitment towards a supportive learning environment and will have no more than 120 students seated in a classroom.

“We are dedicated to and guided by our mission and vision of becoming one of the best medical schools in the Caribbean.

IAU’s framework of knowledge helps build the university’s reputation of being known as the medical education hub of the Caribbean,” said Mr. Sibi Gopalakrishnan, public relations officer.

At the moment the university has close to 200 students who come from many parts of the world, mainly America and Canada. Over the years the number of students enrolled at IAU has increased at a steady pace. The university expects this trend to continue, looking forward to a significant improvement in recruitment and retention rates.

The

Group

GUYANA

SERVING SAINT LUCIA FROM 4 LOCATIONS • Industrial Estate - Vieux Fort (Tel): 454-3635 • Vieux Fort/Laborie Highway (Tel): 454-3717 • Cul D' Sac/Bexon Highway (Tel): 451-5371 • Bois D' Orange, Gros Islet (Tel): 452-8424 OFFERING A WIDE RANGE of: • BUILDING MATERIALS • HARDWARE • HOUSEHOLD & ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES! Including • Galvalume Corrugated & U-Panel Roofing Sheets, up to 50 feet in length • ARAWAK Cement • Lumber • Interior & Exterior Treated Ply Wood • Steel Welded Mesh A98 & A142 • HT & MS Steel Rods • PVC Gutters, Pipes, Conduits & Fittings • Doors • Windows • Paints, Varnishes & Accessories • Electrical Fittings & Fixtures, including wide assortment of Fans, etc., etc..

FROM FOUNDATION TO ROOF WITH EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!

BARBADOS STEEL WORKS LIMITED

GRENADA STEEL WORKS LIMITED

ESSENTIAL HARDWARE LIMITED SAINT LUCIA

• Tel: (758) 454-3635 • Fax: (758) 454-8734 • Email: essentialhardwareltd@yahoo.com Follow us at www.facebook.com/essentialhardwareltd

Quality Products Value for Money • Excellent Service

眀眀眀⸀椀愀甀⸀攀搀甀⸀氀挀

㜀㔀㠀⸀㐀㔀㐀⸀㌀㐀㈀㐀

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Travel and Leisure

As a contemporary travel management company, Travel & Leisure Centre has established a strong footing in St Lucia’s travel industry and at their first year anniversary, Managing Director, Mr. Adrian Popo, reflects on the journey from inception to conceptualization and foundation.

Armed with over 19 years in the hospitality industry, Popo has skilfully laid the groundwork for offering an array of travel and leisure services to Saint Lucia. At Travel & Leisure Centre, travel is coupled with hotel accommodations, car rentals and insurance.

Your Journey with a Difference…

The Travel & Leisure Centre also delivers corporate and entertainment travel management to the local arena. In fact, prior to 2015 corporate travel formed most of the company’s operating base.

“The name of our company was quite deliberate, in that we sought to enlighten clients from the onset that they can expect two-fold service that truly underlines the level of service they could expect,” Popo told Business Focus.

Post 2015 saw a greater focus on the leisure aspect of the company which factors in calendar events in Saint Lucia

Travel and Leisure

As a contemporary travel management company, Travel & Leisure Centre has established a strong footing in St Lucia’s travel industry and at their first year anniversary, Managing Director, Mr. Adrian Popo, reflects on the journey from inception to conceptualization and foundation.

Armed with over 19 years in the hospitality industry, Popo has skilfully laid the groundwork for offering an array of travel and leisure services to Saint Lucia. At Travel & Leisure Centre, travel is coupled with hotel accommodations, car rentals and insurance.

Your Journey with a Difference…

The Travel & Leisure Centre also delivers corporate and entertainment travel management to the local arena. In fact, prior to 2015 corporate travel formed most of the company’s operating base.

“The name of our company was quite deliberate, in that we sought to enlighten clients from the onset that they can expect two-fold service that truly underlines the level of service they could expect,” Popo told Business Focus.

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Post 2015 saw a greater focus on the leisure aspect of the company which factors in calendar events in Saint Lucia

and around the Caribbean. This allows for clients wishing to travel to or from Saint Lucia to attend landmark events to make all necessary arrangements that even include the purchasing of event tickets and transportation, from the comfort of Travel & Leisure’s sofas.

To this, the company has recently announced the availability of an entertainment travel package for the upcoming Crop Over Carnival in Barbados, which begins on August 1, 2016. This, the company says, has garnered considerable interest amongst customers.

Even applying for international visas can be made seamless at the Travel & Leisure Centre, who has mastered the art of providing hassle free international visa application assistance and appointment services. Visa applications to the United States and United Kingdom are often seen as an elaborate procedure which leaves many applicants misguided.

Travel & Leisure Centre works with its clients throughout this process, beginning with the preparation of the necessary documents and ending with travel to and from the embassy. Other major services offered by the agency includes sports recreation, cruises and honeymoon travel.

and around the Caribbean. This allows for clients wishing to travel to or from Saint Lucia to attend landmark events to make all necessary arrangements that even include the purchasing of event tickets and transportation, from the comfort of Travel & Leisure’s sofas.

To this, the company has recently announced the availability of an entertainment travel package for the upcoming Crop Over Carnival in Barbados, which begins on August 1, 2016. This, the company says, has garnered considerable interest amongst customers.

Even applying for international visas can be made seamless at the Travel & Leisure Centre, who has mastered the art of providing hassle free international visa application assistance and appointment services. Visa applications to the United States and United Kingdom are often seen as an elaborate procedure which leaves many applicants misguided.

Travel & Leisure Centre works with its clients throughout this process, beginning with the preparation of the necessary documents and ending with travel to and from the embassy. Other major services offered by the agency includes sports recreation, cruises and honeymoon travel.

BARON FOODS LTD We Make Food Tasty

Established by CEO Ronald Ramjattan, Baron Foods commenced operations in the Vieux Fort Industrial Estate, St Lucia in November 1991 with a total of 15 employees. Since then the company has grown to celebrate 25 years of Manufacturing Excellence and in the process producing several award winning products and becoming the leading manufacturer and exporter of Food Products in the OECS. Baron Foods Ltd boasts a young, vibrant and motivated staff of highly trained, qualified and experienced personnel whose mission is to meet the ever-changing tastes of both the local and international markets. To date, the company employs under 200 employees across its plants situated in the islands of St. Lucia, Grenada and soon-to-be, Trinidad.

Baron Foods Ltd represents a dynamic and reputable manufacturing company and currently manufactures over 150 products which includes exotic and gourmet sauces, condiments, spices, flavorings, low fat mayonnaise, salad dressings and drink cocktails.

The company is export oriented and currently serves markets in the USA, Canada, Europe, Guyana and the entire English, French and Dutch speaking islands of the Caribbean and also cater to the needs of contract packaging and private labeling markets.

In keeping with our commitment to World Class Manufacturing, we critically and continuously analyze and improve our standards of performance in our quest for excellence. All products manufactured

by Baron Foods Limited are FDA compliant.

Baron Foods is continuously looking to expand its export markets and has recently focused its sights on entering the Cuban market where its CEO and a team participated in the Havana International Fair, FIHAV 2015.

Since then a high level delegation from Cuba visited the Baron Foods Factory Complex in May 2016.

The delegation was led by the Cuban Deputy Minister of Trade and Foreign Investment, Her Excellency Ileana Nuñez Mordoche and included Mr. Jesus Gonzales Perez, the Coordinator for Caribbean Affairs at the same Ministry, and the Ambassador of Cuba in St. Lucia, His Excellency Jorge Soberon.

They were taken on a guided tour of Baron Foods Limited at Vieux Fort and were impressed to witness the operations along with certification processes being enforced.

Baron Foods Limited Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ronald Ramjattan, said it was a pleasure to welcome the Cuban delegation.

Mr. Ramjattan welcomed the delegation and disclosed that they had arrived at a time when his company is about to do business with Cuba.

Mr. Ramjattan’s goal is to create an export path to Cuba where other local companies can follow with the anticipated opening up of Cuba to do business with the rest of the world, as the United States continues to normalize relations with Havana.

Baron Foods Limited will continue to be the premier manufacturer of fine food products within the region and will continue our relentless pursuit for excellence in transforming culinary endeavours into gourmet delights. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Saint Lu Metal & Plastic Manufacturing Limited Your Windows Your World

BRICE & COMPANY Build for Living.

Build for Life Brice and Company Limited is a top Quality Manufacturer of Building Supplies with manufacturing operations at their base in the Vieux Fort Industrial Estate.

When Brice and Company Metal Roofing opened for business in 1999 the idea was to create a quality product that would both beautify and protect our customer’s most valuable investment – their St. Lucian homes.

As a member of the Metal Roofing Alliance and NRCA, we pride ourselves in offering only the highest quality materials and craftsmanship, taking our clients homes and dramatically increasing their curb appeal as well as their value.

Founded in St Lucia in 1979 by Madho Beepat, an entrepreneur out of Guyana who built Saint Lu Metal & Plastic Manufacturers Ltd, then known as Saint Lu Metal Works Ltd. from the ground up in the Vieux Fort Industrial Estate. Initially being a garment factory, the company has become the leading manufacturer and supplier of Aluminum Windows and Doors in St Lucia, with offices both in the North and South of the Island.

Remaining a family business, the knowledge and expertise were passed down to the next generation namely his sons Neil & Brian Beepat, both of whom are now Directors with responsibility for managing the company.

The company remains unsurpassed in its field of business, all the while extending its portfolio of products to the St Lucian market and overseas. With our alliances in Asia, North America and Europe, we continue to upgrade our materials, parts and hardware to better suit the ever changing needs of our modern day societies.

With 37 years of operations the company provides an environment conducive to learning where employees are able to realise their full potential as it relates to the manufacturing industry. We strive to become the industry’s standard and maintain a superior level of integrity in interactions with business associates and customers alike. We are grateful for our achieved success while conducting our business as upstanding model corporate citizens in our community. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Over the years we have refined our roofing product offerings to include new designs and technologies for better quality and longer lasting roofing resulting in us being a leader in the supply and installation of roofing material.

At your free consultation with one of our representatives, you will see the distinct advantages of metal over asphalt and other methods of roofing. Once the measuring process is complete, you will learn about the various options available to you. With so much information at your fingertips, the decision will no doubt be an easy one.

Once your metal roof is ordered it will be custom manufactured in our state of the art facility and delivered to your Project. Every metal roof is different and our custom metal will fit your home like a glove, you are rest assured that you will never have to worry about roofing issues again.

With a deep analysis of the building industry, we continue to look for opportunities to grow and expand our production capacity. With the demand for products used in the residential and commercial building sector we started manufacturing a range of building products like reinforcement bars, wire mesh (BRC), stirrups, beams, columns, mattings, fencing and a variety of other rebar and metal fabrications used in the building and construction industry.

From our base in Vieux Fort we are committed to expanding with opportunities to grow whilst building a strong St Lucia as a strategic partner to our Government and community. ¤

Total Health Care Pharmacy Specializing In: Pharmaceuticals * Prescriptions * Medical Supplies Patient Aids e.g. Knee Braces * Wheel Chairs Special Senior Citizen’s Discount Cosmetics & Beauty Products * Baby Care Products Vitamins * Toiletries * Oxygen Theraphy Products Mon - Thurs & Sat. 8:30am to 5:30pm Fri. 8:30 am - 6:00pm Charlery Bldg. Cnr. Clarke Street & Laborie / Vieux Fort Hwy. Telephone: (758) 454 8055 Fax: (758) 454 8045

S MEDICAL SUPPL S E R P IES EX

Distributors of - Medical Supplies and Equipment Dental Supplies * Veterinary Supplies * Pharmaceuticals Also Available - Air Pressure Mattress Wheel chairs Other Patient Aids & Equipment and Supplies for Doctors.

We Order Supplies On Special Request.

We Offer Competitive Prices and Island Wide Deliveries P. O. Box 395, Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia Telephone: (758) 454 6565 Fax: (758) 454 7862

TRADEVIN LTD

Associate & Canada office details: Balwix Trading BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, CANADA Canada Tel: 647 921 2009 Email : VIPILBALWANI@GMAIL.COM We understand your healthcare needs and would like to know more from you to source and serve you with best. Your call and business means a lot to our team. Thanks to our existing customers for their continuous support.

St. Lucia Free Zone based Distributor and Exporter for Reputable Global. Corporation.

• HEALTHCARE • EBCHECK BLOOD GLUCOMETER & STRIPS& INSULIN • ASRIM USA SLIMING & COLON CLEANSING TABS • SAMSON REHABILITATION • OLYMPUS, PENTAX, FUJINON ENDOSCOPES & ACCESSORIES • SUNGLOW NATURAL VITAMINS • WHEY PROTEIN & FLAXSEED • GLUCOGAIN INSTANT ENERGY FLV. TABS • GLOOVES INDUSTRIAL & MEDICAL - AMMEX USA • BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR & NASAL ASPIRATOR

TRADEVIN LTD • Post Box VF 519 • St Lucia Free Zone, Vieux Fort, St Lucia West Indies • TEL/FAX - 758-454-9445 BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Windward Islands Packaging Company (WINERA)

The Windward Island Packaging Company, WINERA, owned by a grouping of public- private sector trans-border investors will celebrate its 44th Anniversary on June 27th 2016.

The Company was established in 1971 by the late Sir John Compton Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and Sir James Mitchell, then St. Vincent’s Minister of Agriculture who later became Prime Minister. WINERA became a grouping of investors comprising the governments of Dominica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Papelera - the paper company in Venezuela. It was a unique experience which has now survived more than 40 years.

The intention was to launch a factory to produce boxes for the Windward Island’s Banana Industry, the sub-region’s main export at the time. But as banana production and export dwindled, WINERA repositioned itself to enter the Caribbean’s competitive but lucrative market for corrugated packaging.

A Caribbean Success Story Firmly Rooted in Vieux Fort

Today WINERA’S markets span Jamaica, Antigua, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St Maarten, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Barbados, the Windward Islands Curacao and Suriname with the search on for new markets. WINERA has established a sales outlet in Trinidad and Tobago to service manufacturers there.

WINERA, destroyed by a fire a year ago after it was established in 1971, was rebuilt and has since survived hurricanes and declines in the banana industry to become a Caribbean success story. Its main clients in St.Lucia are Baron Foods, St .Lucia Distillers, The Windward & Leeward Brewery, Domino Pizza and the Banana Industry.

It is a testimony to the vision for Vieux Fort as an industrial / manufacturing base where the company is firmly rooted as a major manufacturer and exporter and is an integral member of the wider community. ¤

The GENERALS

General Security Services Ltd. Integrated Technologies Security Services(ITSS) Don’t Settle For Mediocrity. Your Security is our Priority

Aviation, Air and Seaports Security Services, Hotel Protection CCTV Surveillance Monitoring and Response Services Hospital and Healthcare Protection Executive Protection, Security Consultants Electronic Surveillance for Financial Facilities / Banks Risk Analysis and Security Survey Event Security Management School and Campus Security We sell high tech electronic fences Equipment Surveillance Home Alarm System Sole Distributor of • Professional Perimeter Security Solutions Sole Distributor of D. Pressure Strip • Perimeter Intrusion Detection System

•St. Lucia Trade Free Zone, Hewanorra International Airport •Beanfield, Vieux-Fort, St. Lucia

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Email: info@gssl.info •Web: www.gssl.info or www.gsslstlucia Tel: (758) 454 3690 •Mob: (758) 285 1662 •Fax: (758) 454 8947

SMJ Beverages

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TROPHY CENTRE

We Supply, Design & Manufacture P.O. Box 363, San Souci Round About, Castries Tel: (758) 452.4151 Fax: (758) 452.1651 E: the_trophycentre@yahoo.com St. Vincent Tel: (784) 457.0100

S.M. Jaleel & Company Ltd, also known as SMJ, is the largest manufacturer of non alcoholic drinks in the English speaking Caribbean with Head Offices and manufacturing plants in Trinidad. Since its inception in 1924 their portfolio of beverages are distributed to over 60 countries worldwide.

SMJ’s blow molding facility is the largest in the Caribbean where they manufacture their own PET bottles in different shapes and sizes for their numerous products.

Services: Promotional Items, Screen Printing Personalized Engraving www.the-trophycentre.com www.sportlockaplus.com

Clarke Street, Vieux Fort Tel: (758) 454.5013

SMJ’s products include a wide array of soft drinks, fruit juices, purified and flavoured water, energy drinks, and other fruit flavoured beverages.

Trophies * Pins * Plaques Badges * Medals Cones(Field Markers) Shorts Uniforms * Certificates General Sporting Gear

Clarke Lane Box 249 Vieux Fort Tel: (758) 454 4040 Fax: (758) 454 4043

The St. Anthony Medical Center is one of the island’s premiere medical centers located in the southern town of Vieux-Fort, with branches in Soufriere and Castries. A multi-specialty ambulatory care center, services include:

Currently, SMJ’s products are found in over half a million wholesale and retail stores worldwide, including Walmart and other international retailers. The company has more than 2000 employees in five continents.

1. Surgical services Comprehensive array of surgical services including surgical consultations, minor procedures, such as excision of skin tags, warts, lipomas, and ingrown toenails among other procedures. Advanced endoscopic unit offers upper gastrointestinal endoscopies, as well as screening, diagnostic and therapeutic colonoscopies. We actively endorse early screening colonoscopies with a view to early diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer.

SMJ has established a plant in the Vieux Fort Industrial Estate since 1998 and manufactures, export and distributes the company’s range of products across St Lucia and the wider OECS markets.

2. Ultrasound services Cutting edge technology, including 3-D, anomaly scanning and sex determination, nuchal translucency testing, echocardiography etc.

The production and sale of branded, high quality premium beverages with equal regard for maximizing shareholder value, employee well-being, customer satisfaction and the responsibility of being a good corporate citizen. ¤

St. Anthony Medical Center is dedicated to providing excellent care with the latest technology, in a warm, friendly, efficient environment.

St. Anthony Medical Center: Advanced medicine, compassionate care.

The company was also the first in the world, in conjunction with Reynolds Metals Company, to fill fruit juices in aluminum cans using nitrogen technology in the 1980s, thus eliminating the need for artificial preservatives in the product.

3. Family Practice General consultations for the entire family.

4. Pediatrics Routine preventive health examinations, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of childhood diseases.

St. Anthony’s Ad

5. Gynaecology Services Exceptional care in female reproductive health and management of pregnancy, family planning, etc.

6. Comprehensive Laboratory Services.

7. Physiotherapy Rehabilitative treatments in the wake of disease, injury and disability.

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Trophy Centre Highlighting Lifetimes of Achievement Trophies and plaques have become much more than prizes and mementos, but rather a symbol of achievement that underline their moment in history no matter how big or small. Moments like those are what propel The Trophy Centre in the south of the island.

Beginning in 1994 with no more than three team members, this family business has grown leaps and bounds in creating items of significance that highlight the impact and contribution of the individual being presented.

The Trophy Centre is now considered the premier provider of awards and related services to clubs, schools, churches, public and private sector agencies transcending the length and breath of the island.

It has literally made its mark in the growing sports industry nationally, regionally and internationally through government, clubs and corporate society, while also supplying promotional products and gift items.

Growth and diversification has allowed for the creation of SPORTLOCKA PLUS – a subsidiary company specializing in the manufacturing of sports uniforms and the provision of sporting accessories.

“Our strength lies in our ability to not only provide a wide range of products but our commitment to offering customized and quality products. We continue to strive for excellence and remain dedicated to providing our customers with prompt and efficient service,” says Managing Director Rosalind Yarde. ¤

Lazarus Funeral Home Helping Families Commemorate Lives The way we pay tribute to our departed relatives and loved ones is different for everyone and the team at Lazarus Funeral Home Limited has recognized that there are no one-size fits all in the business of remembrance.

This second generation family-owned funeral home commands the knowledge, experience and exemplary service record with which to honour the life of our loved ones with care, dignity and integrity.

Founded in 1986 by the late Mr. Michael O’Brian, Lazarus Funeral Home allows grieving relatives to discover the ease and convenience of comprehensive planning, comforting amenities and a caring staff who offer meaningful solutions to specific needs of faith, taste and budget throughout the island.

Lazarus Funeral Home was first opened on New Dock Road in Vieux Fort where it called home for almost three decades before the recent commissioning of its sister location in Vide Bouteille, Castries established to capture a share of the high density populace in the northern end of St Lucia.

The company offers a one stop shop solution in the coordination of all funeral arrangements for the deceased across the island. The company has also pioneered the construction of a Crematorium and a special purpose burial facility at La Resource in Vieux Fort offering the highest quality care and continued management of individual burial sites.

So whether your family or oved one is deceased locally or overseas Lazarus Funeral Home can support all requirements to ensure the delivery of professional burial services with and comfort. ¤

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Margaret and Michael O'Brian Private Cemeteries "Second to None"

Lazarus Ad Payment Plan Available for Tombs Vieux Fort Office New Dock Road , PO Box 278 Vieux Fort Saint Lucia Call: (758) 454-6555 / 454-7550 (758) 721-9184/9158 Fax: (758) 454-5550 FUNERAL HOME LTD

Castries Office: Vide Bouteille , Castries Saint Lucia Tel: (758) 452 -7491

Your Friend in Time of Need lazafuneralhome@gmail.com

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Cool Breeze Jeep / Car Rental Setting the Standard in Vehicle Rental in Saint Lucia What began as an entrepreneurial bid to invest and stimulate economic activity in Soufriere in 1992 has evolved into one of the South’s most viable ventures in automobile rentals.

Cool Breeze Jeep/Car Rental Company stands today as the blossomed vision of son of the soil Stephen Abraham who more than 20 years ago sought to marry his love for automobile with a then niche market south of Saint Lucia. The vision began with a fleet of four vehicles and today stands firms with 75 Sedans and SUV’s catering to both the local and tourist population.

What separates this from most, and could possibly be the the reason for its steady growth for more than two decades, is Cool Breeze’s bid to integrate customer service with its rental operation.

This means that as with any resort or restaurant in the island, this vehicle rental operation regards each driver – local or tourist – as potentially its only customer.

With that in mind, Cool Breeze has sought to diversify its fleet of vehicles to cater to almost any scenario or adventure type.

Its products and services are literally at a standard that meet the needs of all.

“We cater for all clients with the widest range of vehicles from the smallest car to the large 8 passenger family size jeep.

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At Cool Breeze we cater to the needs of our valued customers by listening to their specific requests for vehicle hire.”

By doing this, the company has made special provisions to including in its lineup a wide variety of American-made vehicles like Dodge, Chrysler, Ford and the famous Jeep Wrangler for which it offers in both two door, four door and convertible top – an appealing choice for American tourists.

“Our research has shown that we are the only Car Rental Company on the island to have this wide selection of vehicles. This marketing tool has enabled us to maintain our mission, by greatly exceeding their expectations.”

The mere size of its fleet enables Cool Breeze to operate from five locations around the island for added convenience to its clients. The main office, is of course based in Soufriere, with other locations being at the Hewanorra International Airport and George F L Charles Airports where it operates in a fixed system to best accommodate travelers. Locations also include JQ Charles Rodney Bay Mall and the newest at Beanefield, Vieux Fort.

“Our recently constructed office at Beanefield is designed to facilitate those renters who require a vehicle much earlier than our normal opening time at the Airport. Here again we recognized

the need of the client and have sought to invest accordingly to make these facilities available in order to best serve the growing needs and expectations of our clients.”

This impressive feat of dedication and commitment to service excellence is delivered remarkably by exactly 12 people, dubbed the remarkable dozen.

Most of these individuals have been with the operations from its onset and are all adequately trained to meet the needs and demands of a growing and equally competitive industry. And it is their direct involvement in the decision making process of the company that has contributed significantly to the growth, development and improvement of Cool Breeze’s service.

By the sheer nature of its business, Cool Breeze has its sights heavily set on US and UK tourists overnighting on the island and particularly those with a thirst for adventure.

This direct targeting has undoubtedly placed Cool Breeze at a competitive advantage in this industry and in order to sustain this, the company has committed to further building upon its standards of excellent service and really connecting with the needs of a growing market.

Leisure Inn Guest House “To maintain our advantage we intend to build upon our existing services like vehicle delivery and pickups at all major hotels, guest houses, airports and more. We facilitate the issuance of local driving permits for foreign nationals who ned it to legally traverse our roads and we even provide child safety seats for families who require one for their own peace of mind.”

“At Cool Breeze we have managed to keep ahead by adapting almost seamlessly to the economical changes and challenges while still continuing to offer services that satisfy our customers.”

While business and growth is important, Cool Breeze has managed to embrace its Corporate Social Responsibility by fostering growth for both community and youth through the creation of employment and economic stimulation. This is further amplified through the company’s sister operations, all of which are strategically planted to best capitalize on the island’s tourism product and allow for empowerment and growth.

Among these are Leisure Inn Guest House, which offers selfcontained complete with cable TV, telephone, wireless internet access, air conditioning, ceiling fan, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, clock radio, full kitchen, dining set and living room suite.

Some rooms even offer private patios. This marvel is ideally located within walking distance to most of Soufriere’s natural sites and the town centre.

Complementing this is the Cool Breeze Service Station, which was opened to fill an existing need for the service in the Soufriere area, catering to the needs of both the community and its direct clients. The service station is a one stop shop which offers convenience to not just the motorists but the general public with services such as cooking gas, telephone credit and all vehicles accessories.

Cool Breeze Vieux Fort COME EXPLORE

St. Lucia

In keeping with the subject of accessories, completing the company’s umbrella of service is Cool Breeze Accessories, located on the Soufriere waterfront and offering a range of products and services – most popularly lottery tickets, scratch cards and telephone credits. ¤

PHONE: 758-459-7729 COOLBREEZECARRENTAL.COM EMAIL: COOLBREEZE@CANDW.LC

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Soufriere Foundation 25 Years of Landmark Development BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Twenty-five years after its formation, the Soufriere Foundation remains a trail-blazer in the south of the island building on the foundation of the Soufriere Development Programme (SDP), which was itself formed in 1986.

This visionary outfit came to life at the behest of then community leaders including Clem Bobb, Nick Troubetskoy, Joan Duboulay-Devaux, Michael Duboulay, Lennard Riviere and Pelham Reid.

The idea then, as much as it is now, was the promotion and coordination of socio-economic development for the Soufriere region and of course the creation of socially acceptable, environmentally friendly and economically beneficial tourismrelated infrastructure and amenities. Soufriere has come a long way since the birth of this organisation and continues to grow steadily today.

It is best recognized for the development of the world-renowned Sulphur Springs Park, the construction of the Soufriere jetties and waterfront, development of an inventory of the community’s heritage assets, and – not the least important – the initiation of an anti-Harassment Programme.

Today the Soufriere Foundation stands as an organization that envelopes the overall vision of mobilizing the Soufriere people, and undertaking key initiatives in keeping with social and economic development. ¤

• • • • •

e-mail: renee.construct@gmail.com www.reneesconstruction.com

Construction Project Management Construction Management Renovations Building & Designing

A: P. O. Box CP 5452, Hillcrest,Castries T: 1(758) 452-0009 F: 1(758) 452-0009 M: (758) 721-1770 or 460-5166 E: epicconstruction.inc@hotmail.com

Soufriere Regional Development Foundation Thank you for your interest in the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation and our picturesque community of Soufriere, St. Lucia. We are a stellar development organization located in the heart of the most beautiful place on earth; Soufriere, St. Lucia.

The Soufriere Foundation is a non-profit company established by the people of Soufriere to promote, encourage, support, facilitate and coordinate local development initiatives in the Soufriere region.

P.O. Box 272, Bay Street, Soufriere, St Lucia Tel: (758) 459-7200/7201/5212 • Fax: (758) 459-7999 www.soufrierefoundation.org BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Laborie Credit Union Fostering Growth and Development Credit Unions are considered the backbones of many Caribbean societies and communities like Laborie represent the true essence of the reach and fortitude of such institutions.

And with the presence of the Laborie Credit Union this community has benefited considerably.

It carries a mandate of improving the quality of life of both its members and the community – a fiat it has executed well with a structure that sees the investment of a percentage of all interest generated from community loans in education and other initiatives.

Education has proven to be a key pillar in the Laborie Credit Union’s operations having invested considerably in three annual scholarships to deserving students from within the community through the Hilary Darcheville scholarship grant. This is usually awarded to the applicant attaining the highest level in the Common Entrance Examinations of that year while the other two awards are presented on the basis of performance and financial need.

The adoption of the School Thrift Co-Operatives is another priority area under the education banner for the Credit Union.

This initiative involves the donation of computers and software to schools, as well as the automation of their operations.

Personal development is also a key area of focus for the Credit Union with a series of annual presentations geared at improving financial management of both its members and non-members.

Sports and youth development also play a key role in the overall construct of the Union’s standards, with landmark programs ongoing in Laborie through its Youth and Sports Council and other organisations within the community.

The Credit Union also donated to several causes over the years and will continue to do so as a means to promote economic and social development. ¤

2016 Transforming Lives Since 1976 Tel: (758) 459-6900 | Fax: (758) 455-9289 Email: info@mylaboriecu.com

Web: www.mylaboriecu.com Facebook: facebook.com/laboriecooperativecreditunionltd BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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The financial and economic benefits of hosting such an event is innumerable; development of a special tourism niche, opportunities for sponsorship and branding, and XXX. However, there would be a tremendous expense in getting this idea off the ground not only in the infrastructure that would be needed to facilitate drag racing but the importation and purchasing of the vehicles.

Drag Wars An Opportunity for Entertainment Tourism in Vieux Fort Many would say that the idea of drag racing came to St. Lucia after the dawn of Too Fast 2 Furious movie and that it was a reckless pastime that youth engaged in simple for frivolous fun and to earn “bragging” rights on who was the fastest driver or had the fastest car.

However, there are a distinct few who while they may certainly be driven by earning bragging rights; see a very fortuitous future in the arena of drag racing.

It is the firm belief of many that an organized Moto X Club can produce benefits to the economy and generate a very thrilling form of event tourism in St. Lucia. According to Mr. Brad Evans, one such advocate attempts are being made in by the Moto X Club and Ministry of Youth and Sports to create an umbrella organization called St. Lucia Motor Racing Club which would spare head the entire initiative.

If this idea was to come to fruition St. Lucia would join a long list of Caribbean islands who already have a very organized and profitable Drag Racing sporting event including Nevis, Aruba, Antigua, Jamaica, Trinidad, to name a few. The idea of competitive drag racing was first introduced by Neil Beepat who organized the first event in the mid 2000’s. This event attracted professional racers throughout the Caribbean and introduced rules and standards to the local scene.

Since then, there have been three drag wars sequels and a handful of other drag racing events hosted by other organizers.

Drivers would need extensive training, crafting an appropriate race car to meet the demands of such a sport would also be a hefty sum and finally the extent of damage that a vehicle can suffer in the event of an accident are all critical costs to consider. However, the prize money rewards that racers can aspire to would easily persuade even the most inexperienced driver to take the risks that the sport entails.

Other obstacles that the current St. Lucian organizers face include breaking the mindset that racing can actually be a professional sport. Many decision makers are still not convinced that there is a real future in drag racing as a professional sport and see only the danger, and rowdy atmosphere that it encourages.

In addition, the struggle continues to concretize commitment among the ranks, of those seeking to form a racing association. Nonetheless there is hope that with the recent formation of the SLMRC there will continue to be a shift in the right direction. ¤

For Reliability Efficiency & Security Contact the Specialist * Friendly & Knowledgeable Staff * Speedy Settlement of Claims * Couteous Service * Competitive Rates

We Help You to get from HERE....

... To HERE

38 Micoud St. P. O. Box 767, Castries Tel: (758) 452 3323 / 453 2357 Fax: (758) 452 6072 Business Hours:

Mon to Fri 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Sat: 8:30 am - 12:00

Clarke St., Vieux Fort Tel: (758) 454 6064 / 454 8550 Business Hours:

Fax: (758) 454 0853

Mon to Fri 8:00 am - 4:30 pm e.mail: stl_magic@hotmail.com

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MUST READS Volume 16

Be a Renegade

“

by Lyndell Halliday BSc., MBA, CPA,CMA

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they’re not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do” Apple 1997 Television Ad The above quote is taken from the narration of an Apple 1997 famous television ad which launched the iconic company’s “Think Different” marketing campaign. This ad pioneered a successful repositioning of Apple as the choice of the maverick and creative – the ones who truly dared to be different. This issue’s MustReads, explores the topic of innovation through the eyes of Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Original: How Non-conformists Move the World by Adam Grant (Viking, 2016) Adam Grant is a professor of organizational psychology at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he has been rated as Wharton’s top professor for the last five years. His previous book, “Give and Take” published in 2013 became a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller. In the newly published Original: How Non-conformists Move the World, Grant systematically analyses the issue of originality, offering many counterintuitive and unexpected insights. In this detailed study, Grant investigates how to be more creative and how to channel that creativeness for maximum impact.

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Adam Grant starts off by examining the factors that inspire creativity and why some people are more creative than others. Grant cites current research to debunk several myths about what it takes to be creative. According to Grant, creativity is not some mysterious innate trait - anyone can be creative, it is a choice. He notes that the most creative persons are “rarely paragons of conviction and commitment.” Instead, they are like everyone else; they battle insecurities and doubt and even shun risk.

Two of the most interesting examples of Grant’s myth busting are on the subjects of procrastination and the first mover advantage in business.

On the subject of procrastination, Grant discusses Martin Luther’s King “I have a Dream” speech, which Dr Martin Luther King only completed writing the night before the scheduled event and even then totally veered off script, ad-lipping the famous “I have a dream” lines.

Grant notes this is just one example of innumerable that demonstrates that procrastination can be a boon to creativity. Psychology experiments have shown that some degree of procrastination allows the mind to subconsciously work on idea generation thereby providing time to generate a wider range of novel ideas and leaving the procrastinator open to a greater degree of improvisation. Grant recommends strategic procrastination in order to enhance creativity, and he defines strategic procrastination as “making gradual progress by testing and refining different possibilities.” He cautions, however, that strategic procrastination does not mean skipping planning entirely.

Much has been written in business about the so called first-mover advantage. Yet, it is probably well-known that one of the most innovative companies of all time, Apple Inc. was not first to market in any of its major product categories.

In fact, many of the leading technology companies were not first-movers either: Google, Amazon, Netflix, Nintendo were all copycats in their industries. Yet, these companies are all heralded as innovators.

According to Grant, “Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being different and better.” Grant argues that being the first to market can actually be a disadvantage. The most successful businesses are the ones that wait and improve on what the first movers have done. Data suggests that so-called copycats or settlers, as Grant calls them, in fact have a much higher success rate in business than first-movers or pioneers.

Clearly simply being original is not enough to guarantee success. People and organisations are often resistant to change and hesitant to embrace new ideas. Grant recognizes this challenge and addresses the issue on why some original thinkers and ideas are accepted by their organization and society and why many others face rejection. He discusses issues such as timing, building alliances, cooping enemies and overcoming group-think among others.

Overall Adam Grant has written a thought-provoking book on a neglected and poorly understood topic. Backed up by research from the fields of sociology, psychology and economics this book is full of practical suggestions that the reader can implement immediately in order to be more innovative and impactful. ¤

Lyndell Halliday is an avid reader, lifelong learner and business executive who has served in a range of leadership roles across the Caribbean. He is currently employed as the General Manager of Automotive Art (St Lucia) Ltd. Mr Halliday also lectures Leadership & Operations Management for the Australia Institute of Business MBA programme at the National Research and Development Foundation.

We Provide the following services in addition to the refueling of vehicles: Soufriere 758-459-7729

Cooking gas – both Sol and TexGas * Telephone top up – Lime/Digicel Vehicle accessories, car batteries, air fresheners * Lottery Tickets Oils and lubricants * Ice * Convenient store

Location: Fond Cacao, Soufriere Telephone : 459 -7831/459-7729

Ipswich Antwerp La Pallice Setubal Dominican Republic Haiti

St. Martin Guadeloupe Martinique St. Lucia Barbados Trinidad Guyana Surinam French Guiana (S.L.M.) Brazil (Macapá)

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MARIGOT BAY

GOURMET DESTINATION AND HOME OF THE SPANNERFISH

Spannerfish

Courts Showroom at Marisule and the updated generator housing for LUCELEC’s expansion at Cul de Sac.

Accessible by boat and by road, Marigot Bay has become a ’must-visit‘ destination for both tourists and St Lucians, offering a range of waterside restaurants and bars including two of St Lucia’s top four TripAdvisor listed restaurants.

RAINFOREST HIDEAWAY RESTAURANT, twice rated by TripAdvisor as one of the Caribbean’s Top Ten Fine Dining Restaurants, leads the way with its new, “Sophisticated Caribbean Menu”, serving updates on favourite Caribbean dishes in a unique over-the-water setting. The little ferry, with the Rainforest Hideaway sign on top, runs a shuttle service across the bay; a two minute ride, free to diners, creating a magical experience before you even taste your first cocktail.

Come for a birthday, an anniversary or just for fun, and enjoy soft dinner jazz with some of St Lucia’s finest musicians every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, all year round. The welcoming Rainforest staff, highly praised for their professionalism, will take care of you from the first hello to a warm ’goodnight‘ at the end of the evening.

Families with children are always welcome. The new ’choose your sauces and sides’ menu works for everyone, including children who might object to sauces and vegetables they hate (regardless of whether they’ve tasted them).

And if you don’t feel like driving home after dinner, you can stay at Mango Beach Inn, a few steps away from the restaurant, and enjoy a delicious breakfast, a swim in BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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the pool or a hike up the ridge trail with panoramic views down to Mt Gimie and up to Martinique MANGO BEACH INN, is also in TripAdvisor’s Hall of Fame after receiving five successive annual Certificates of Excellence. It’s a quirky old plantation house, – no butlers, porters or room service, but everything you need, including AC, WiFi, private bathrooms and sea view patios. Instead of driving home after dinner you can enjoy breakfast with a view over the famous harbour and enjoy the calm, slow-living atmosphere of ‘the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean.’

Take a weekend break at Mango Beach and enjoy a vacation without paying a plane fare and in summer, you can take advantage of our Locals Only Gourmet Getaway Package, including dinner at Rainforest Hideaway and a night at Mango Beach Inn at a deeply discounted price for St Lucian residents.

Call 458 3188 for details.

COMPLETE MARINE SERVICES But this beautiful bay isn’t all about providing hospitality, it’s also about building hospitality facilities. Marigot is home to the fast-growing CMS Group of marine and onshore engineering companies which have been designing and installing most of our docks, jetties and boat lifts in St Lucia over the past 7-8 years. Onshore, CMS has piled the foundations of many major new buildings, including the Dive Centre and Harbour Club Hotel in Rodney Bay, the Koi Hotel in St Kitts, the latest and largest

CMS can provide a solution to every type of foundation, jetty, retaining wall, beach or sea wall project, from a single villa to a major resort, using the latest hightech materials and installation methods.

The CMS Spannerfish logo can be seen all over St Lucia together with the Piler Brothers and the familiar “Piton Piler” crane barge is a regular visitor to west coast hotels and marinas, dredging, installing mooring buoys and carrying out all kinds of underwater construction and maintenance.

Piler Brothers

In 2015 CMS expanded into beach renovation and construction in partnership with a Jamaican coastal design consultancy, completing major beach renovations for Le Sport, Rendezvous and Sugar Beach Resorts.

A further expansion into water-well drilling is planned for 2016 to address the growing imbalance between water demand and supply in St Lucia and other Caribbean islands. ‘Marigeau’ of Marigot.

If you’d like to know more about the achievements of the Spannerfish and the Piler Brothers please visit our website: www.cms-sl.com and subscribe to our Newsletter to stay updated. ¤

MANGO BEACH INN

at "the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean"

“Bed & Breakfast with the Famous Harbour View”

Mango Beach Inn Marigot Bay, St Lucia, Tel: + 1 758 458 3188 E-Mail: judith@marigotbay.com www.mangobeachmarigot.com

MARIGOT BAY

SAINT LUCIA

Listed by TripAdvisor as One of the Top Ten Fine Dining Restaurants in the Caribbean

“Romantic Waterfront Dining with Live Jazz”

Rainforest Hideaway Marigot Bay, St Lucia, Tel: +1 758 451 4485 rainforesthideaway@marigotbay.com www.rainforesthideawaystlucia.com

St Lucia’s Leading Marine and Onshore Piling Company - From Residential Properties to Major Resorts DOCKS, BOAT-LIFTS, SHEET PILING, SEA DEFENCES AND ALL TYPES OF FOUNDATION PILING

Talk to us about DIP piles for massive savings on foundation piling Phone Office: 758 458 3188 or Cell: 485 1141 • E-mail: sam@cms-sl.com • Website: www.cms-sl.com BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTALFOCUS FOCUS

Italy to Fund EC$6 Million State-of-the-Art Local Hazard Warning System

T

providing rapid pre and post event maps worldwide, based on the analysis of satellite images acquired immediately after an event.

The early warning system will involve the establishment of a multi-hazard information centre for natural disasters forecasting and early warning, that combines information derived from multiple ground and satellite sources, and provides concrete information on upcoming extreme weather events and their potential impact on the island.

During that meeting Dr. Fletcher requested assistance for Saint Lucia to deal with the impacts of extreme weather events, particularly flooding and landslides that caused loss of lives and severe damage to property and livelihoods.

he Italian government has agreed to provide financial support to the Government of Saint Lucia for a stateof-the-art flood and hazard early warning system and information centre.

The agreement between the two countries was formalized during the recently concluded signing ceremony for the Paris Agreement at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The information centre will provide extreme weather events forecasting and early warning alerts; flood hazard mapping and alerts; multi-hazard risk assessments, fisheries control, oil spill detection and forest monitoring.

It will be supported by state-of the-art operational capabilities such as COSMO-SkyMed 7 - a constellation of four radar satellites funded and designed by the Government of Italy and used by government institutions and industries worldwide in numerous operational scenarios, many of which are related to natural disasters alert and response systems.

There will also be support by On-Demand-Mapping-Services for Emergency; the unique industrial operational capability of BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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The support from the Government of Italy comes as a result of a September 2015 request made by Dr James Fletcher, Saint Lucia’s Sustainable Development Minister, in a meeting with the Italian Environment Minister and other senior officials from the Italian govern-ment, in New York at the UN Headquarters.

The project was designed by Italian company E-Geos, which will be responsible for the installation of equipment and the training of Saint Lucian officers who will use it.

The project is expected to provide Saint Lucia with sophisticated technology that will allow the country to predict the likely impacts of threats from climate change, while at the same time create the basis for the development of a “centre of excellence” for the study of the effects of climate change and the use of geospatial systems.

The flood and hazard early warning system and information centre will be funded by the Italian government at a cost of Euro 2.5 million. ¤

Eastern Caribbean Countries Pursue Geothermal Energy as Avenue to Sustainable Future

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he high cost of energy production in the Eastern Caribbean and the commitment to reduce carbon emissions have forced many countries to look to renewable sources with geothermal taking the spotlight this week at a three-day regional forum in St. Kitts and Nevis.

At present, countries including St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Montserrat, Grenada and Dominica are actively pursuing geothermal development, with Dominica being the most advanced in terms of the level of work that it has done so far and where it is relative to the others.

While appearing on the Government’s weekly radio and television programme “Working for You” on Wednesday, May 11, Dr. Devon Gardener, Programme Manager for Energy and Head of Energy Unit at the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana, said Caribbean islands can produce their own power.

“The fact is that at the end of the day in terms of our energy requirements, [and] energy demand, we are the ones to produce power that we can then convert to other energy services,” he said, noting that it can be by heating or cooling sources. “And there is a lot of interest in looking at these lower temperature geothermal opportunities for providing heat that can drive cooling or heating systems.”

Dr. Gardener formed part of the Regional Geothermal Forum team that was in the Federation reviewing the development of geothermal energy in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and its prospects for economic and sustainable contributions.

The forum which concluded on Thursday, May 12, was organized by the CARICOM Secretariat and the OECS Commission in collaboration with the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Sustainable Energy Facility (SEF) for the Eastern Caribbean took the initiative to fund renewable energy including geothermal power, energy efficiency and institutional capacity projects in six Eastern Caribbean countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to a release from SEF, in October 2015, Presidents Alberto Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Dr. William Warren Smith of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) signed a US$71.5 million loan and grant package which were approved by IDB and CDB. The signing occurred at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami ahead of the start of the Annual Caribbean Renewable Energy Conference. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTALFOCUS FOCUS

IMHO:

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Renew Recycle Reuse Reduce

n 2012 at the CDEMA Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference hosted by Jamaica, a partnership between Jamaica and Martinique was presented; where old tyres were used to build a retaining wall in, by and with a community. It was an amazing example of reuse, recycle, renew.

Three years later a retaining wall was built at the La Croix Maingot Combined School, using the same technology also a partnership with Martinique. Imagine my delight that the almost one million tyres at the two landfills could now be used for walls!

They now had a new purpose in life! It is an SSDF Project and I congratulate them, as much as the school I am sure has thanked them.

It is for others, including you, me and the Ministry of Infrastructure to emulate.

Many will appreciate the “1.5 to stay alive” and many will not.

Many of us practice the “Renew Recycle Reuse Reduce” life style and many do not.

But we all understand the value of a dollar.

When the entrepreneur steps up to the business opportunity provided by used tyres then In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) it is a win-win-win situation.

Win: Money to be made Win: Products to be used Win: Tyre Mountain to be reduced.

To the persons involved in these three examples (I am sure there are many more out there), As I drove around I began to notice tyres popping up along the way.

I say- WELL DONE AND THANK YOU!

I grew up in an era where tyres were used as “pots” for backyard gardens; everything from onions to flowers was grown. Then tyres seemed to go out of fashion – but now they are back! With a 21st Century twist! I saw these at Balata.

Recently I had cause to drive into Bisee where this example greeted me. I inquired about the work and was told it was done by the youth in the community. Again my heart swelled with pride as I took photos of the positive side of our young people.

Well done!

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Dawn French is a prolific writer who has appeared in numerous publications over the years including “Creation Fire” in 1990 published by CAFRA and “Women’s Future” in 2000 published by UNIFEM. She is the Saint Lucia National Arts Festival 2013 Winner of the Literary Arts for Fiction; her works are available online.

RISE Takes the Lead on Good Food Revolution Project Under the auspices of RISE Saint Lucia, the project aims to revolutionize food production by removing toxic chemicals and harmful GMOs from the Saint Lucian food chain.

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he Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture has partnered with RISE Saint Lucia to host an Organic Farmers Training Workshop.

The workshop is part of RISE’s Good Food Revolution Project which aims to create a national environment that promotes healthy food consumption, revolutionizing food production by removing toxic chemicals and harmful GMOs from the Saint Lucian food chain.

It is also a call to action for farmers, retailers and consumers to grow, buy, and consume organic.

The training workshop began on May 3 with a group of 40 farmers, to create an understanding of a farm as an agroecosystem -- a living ecosystem that produces food.

The first block of training will continue over the next three months, with sessions designed to train growers in advanced organic practical techniques following a “field-school” format. To obtain a certificate of completion, participants must start their own organic test plots and document the entire process.

The workshop will also introduce farmers to the organic certification process; to regional and international standards; and to organic business plan development.

The final session will be a forum for growers to put forward and explore ideas to create a vibrant and lucrative organic production industry in Saint Lucia.

Regional Experts Exploring Advantages of Geothermal Energy Development

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ARICOM and the OECS coordinated a meeting of key stakeholders to identify a re-gional strategy for optimizing the development of geothermal energy within the region.

OECS member states are being further encouraged to consider the advantages of geothermal energy investing, given the socioeconomic benefits associated with that industry.

The encouragement was reinforced, when regional experts, including regional policy makers and members of the international energy community, assembled in Saint Kitts and Nevis for talks on Geothermal Energy Development in the OECS. The Caribbean Community Secretariat and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission partnered with the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis to jointly host a Regional Geothermal Forum under the theme “Opportunities and Synergies for Collaboration.”

The three-day forum was held in Basseterre from May 10 - 12.

Geothermal energy, through scientific evidence, has emerged as a priority within the Eastern Caribbean States namely Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The forum came at a period of increased interest and activity with respect to geothermal energy development within the CARICOM region.

Participants will receive donated organic farming supplies and tools, and a three-part manual as incentive for successfully participating in the program.

The meeting, which organizers welcomed as timely, was attended by officials from relevant ministries and government agen¬cies engaged in the development of geothermal projects within the resource-rich countries of the OECS.

The Good Food Revolution has to date received funding in part from the UNDP GEF SGP, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA). ¤

Representatives of multilateral institutions, international development partners and international financing institutions, as well as private sector developers and investors, were also present. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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ECONOMY & TRADE

Stakeholders Set Path for Establishment of Regional Creative Industries Body

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he Caribbean is renowned worldwide for its creative culture, including music, folklore, crafts, festivals and carnivals. Despite making some progress in developing the cultural and creative sectors, the Region has lagged in translating its creativity into substantial economic gains.

This reality prompted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government at their 26th Intercessional meeting held in February 2015, to recommend the establishment of a Caribbean Creative Industries Management Unit (CCIMU), a dedicated body to address the needs of the Region’s cultural and creative industries.

Further to CARICOM’s recommendation, on Tuesday, April 12 in Kingston, Jamaica, 28 stakeholders representing the creative industries of the Region, gathered for a historic consultation.

This meeting set the path for the creation of the CCIMU. When established, the Unit will address the needs of the regional creative industries - including business development, trade opportunities, and the protection of artists’ and stakeholders’ intellectual property rights.

The creative industries have shown impressive growth in terms of contribution to GDP in many Caribbean islands such as Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Yet the sector is faced with a number of challenges.

“The biggest gap has been the absence of a structure that looks at the monetization of the creative industries for the region. We lack a framework that actually measures or gives tangible voice to what needs to be done, how or what data can be collected, how it can actually be monetized, and how we can benefit from intellectual property value in the creative industries,” said Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export). Caribbean Export has been assigned the lead role in the development of the CCIMU. The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is providing funding for technical assistance to support the establishment of the CCIMU, through the staging of stakeholders consultations and the development of a business plan for the Unit.

“CDB is pleased to be a partner in driving the establishment of the CCIMU. We view the creative industries as key to BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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improving the competitiveness of the Caribbean economy and to guiding our Region toward sustainable social and economic development,” said Edward Greene, Division Chief, Technical Cooperation Division, CDB. Mr Jesús Orús Báguena, Chargé D’ Affaires a.i., Acting Head of Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, Belize, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos Islands and Cayman Islands, during his opening remarks, stressed that there was a huge potential for the Caribbean’s creative industries through the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in 2008 “by opening the EU market beyond WTO commitments in the services sectors, including creative and entertainment industries.” “Filling the EPA with real life is about carrying out an ambitious reform agenda, creating an enabling environment for business and developing the competitiveness and capacity of the private sector to engage in trade,” he added.

The Honourable Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Jamaica, in her remarks, welcomed the involvement of the banking and export sectors in the creative industries and brought attention to some of the achievements thus far in the sectors’ economic development. In addition, she offered suggestions as to how the group could chart the way forward, avoiding duplication in the process.

At the one-day consultation, stakeholders made recommendations for the proposed CCIMU. They heard presentations on the concept of the CCIMU; best practices from other countries and regions; and examples of models that best suit the CCIMU, including gender-sensitive marketing and communications strategies and a sustainability plan.

The stakeholders represented 14 Member States of CARICOM: The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; the OECS countries; and Suriname. ¤ A CCIMU business plan presentation is scheduled for June in Trinidad and Tobago.

More information about Caribbean Export can be found at www.carib-export.com. Contact: JoEllen Laryea, PR and Communications, Caribbean Export Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999, Email: jlaryea@carib-export.com

Saint Lucia too Soon Establish an Open Ship Registry

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t a recent sitting of the Senate, the bills down for consideration included the Shipping Amendment Bill.

Leader of Government Business, Victor Philip La Corbiniere presented the bill to the Senate and stated that the amendments would help make way for an open ship registry to be established in Saint Lucia.

He explained, “At present the registry forms part of the Division of Maritime Affairs within the Saint Lucian Air and Sea Ports Authority, and an officer there is responsible for the registration of ships.

In recent times the trend has been towards an open ship reg¬istry and this of course is to enable the registration of foreign owned ships.

“Within the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Saint Kitts Nevis, Saint Vincent, Grenada and the Grenadines all have open ship registries.”

Sen. La Corbiniere went on to list the benefits and said, “There are economic and other advantages of having open ship registries which allow for foreign ships to be registered.

It also ensures that owners can choose employees from an international labour pool and in particular persons who are qualified from Saint Lucia will probably have greater opportunities to work on some of these boats.” ¤

Taiwan Finances Two New Fishing Jetties at Savannes Bay and Praslin

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he Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure officially launched in May two modern fishing jetties financed by the Government of Taiwan.

The separate official opening ceremonies were held at the sites of the recently-completed jetties at Savannes Bay, Vieux Fort and Praslin, Dennery along with symbolic sod-turning ceremonies that also marked the commencement of construction work for the improvement of supporting infrastructure for the fishers.

The collaborating ministries determined that in addition to the upgrade, there was also a need to improve other vital on-site facilities for the fishers.

As a result, work has commenced on increasing storage capacity, improving the fish vending stalls and installing toilet and shower facilities to improve overall hygiene and sanitation.

Additional improvements include: retrofitting locker spaces and adding more roof coverage to allow for net mending, retrofitting fisher stalls to include water and electricity to create a more hygienic atmosphere for the sale of fresh fish; and re-surfacing roads at both sites to allow for proper circulation of vehicular traffic.

Prime Minister Dr. Kenny D. Anthony addressed the Savannes Bay ceremony.

Both ceremonies were also addressed by Minister of Agriculture, Food Production, Fisheries, Cooperatives and Rural Development, Moses Jn Baptiste, as well as by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport, Hon. Philip J. Pierre.

Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan, His Excellency Ray H.W. Mou, also addressed the ceremonies. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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YOUTH IN FOCUS

OECS Launches OECS YES Youth Initiative

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n Wednesday June 8th 2016, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States officially launched an OECS Youth Strategy under the brand OECS YES. This strategy was developed based on the need for greater attention and action to issues directly affecting OECS Youth.

The goal of this initiative is to develop a Youth Empowered Society by focusing on the following key areas crucial to young people: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

I I I I I I I

Belong – Citizenship & Identity Earn – Employment & Entrepreneurship Express – Creativity & Culture Inherit – Environment & Sustainable Development Learn – Education & Training Matter – Child & Youth Protection Move – Healthy Lifestyles

The campaign will have a significant digital component which will be led by Digital Marketing Consultant to the OECS - Anushka Singh: “This is more than just marketing to young people through social media. Our goal here is to create a movement through social media where young people can collaborate and use their voices to impact change across the region.”

Director General of the OECS Dr. Didacus Jules expressed his confidence in the innovative strategy in engaging youth from across the region for better socio-economic outcomes: “The Youth demographic are increasingly playing a central role in how the social fabric and societies of the OECS will be shaped BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Digital Marketing Consultant to the OECS - Anushka Singh

into the future. It is vital we empower youth to take control of their future and to harness their collective views through a range of innovative digital mediums. The shaping of this Strategy involves a crowdsourcing of ideas from the youth themselves – we are inviting the youth of the region to tell us what are their aspirations, tell us what are the things that they would like to see put in place that they can take responsibility for to shape their own destiny!”

A feature of this initiative will also be a Digital Internship Programme - whereby young persons will be able to learn Digital Marketing skills underneath the leadership of Ms Anushka Singh, while contributing to the development and execution of the online campaign.

Want to be a part of the OECS YES Movement? Follow OECS YES on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or visit www.oecsyes.org for more information. ¤

Rihanna’s Scholarships for Caribbean Students

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n 2012, the Barbados and Caribbean Superstar Rihanna launched “The Clara Lionel Foundation”, a non-profit organisation that “works to improve the quality of life for communities globally in the areas of health, education, arts and culture.”

Recently, “Clara Lionel Foundation established a Scholarship Program to assist citizens or natives of Brazil, Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, Grenada, Guyana, or Jamaica who plan to continue their education in College in the United States.”

Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988 to a Guyanese mother and they are related to Guyanese folklorist and journalist, Alan Fenty.

Rihanna said in a statement about the program, “To be able to give the gift of an education is actually an honour. Higher education will help provide perspective, opportunities and learning to a group of kids who really deserve it. I am thrilled to be able to do this.”

Rihanna is currently on her way to finishing up the North American leg of her Anti World Tour. She has four U.S. shows to complete and after that, Rihanna will head to Europe for two months of shows starting June 17th in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

She will wrap up the European leg of the tour on August 21st in Chelmsford, England. She is also scheduled to play a show November 27th in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Barbadian singer released her newest album, Anti, at the end of January. The first single of the record, “Work” [ft. Drake], reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for a total of nine weeks. ¤ Reproduced from Artist Direct BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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YOUTH IN FOCUS

St. Lucia’s Tevin Shepherd Among 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders Award Recipients

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evin Shepherd is one of 60 young people from across the Commonwealth who are being recognized as exceptional leaders in their community. These 60 young people will receive the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders Award which will be presented in London by Her Majesty the Queen in 2016, and is part of The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme. This programme celebrates the achievements of young people who are taking the lead to transform the lives of others and make a lasting difference in their communities.

Tevin is a youth development worker. He co-founded an organisation called ProjectCan, which engages young people in education, entrepreneurship and leadership. Since 2012 Tevin has been the second Vice President for Education of the St. Lucia National Youth Council. In 2013 he began working to revive student councils into all secondary schools. The council also implemented the Lucian Leaders Summit, which has trained over 300 students in leadership skills. Tevin’s commitment to access to education led him to create the Hon. Mario NYC Fund which provides scholarships to students.

This year’s award winners, aged between 18 and 29 and who come from all over the Commonwealth, are working to support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of different issues including education, climate change, gender equality, mental health and disability equality.

As part of the award, winners will receive bespoke mentoring and online learning provided by the University of Cambridge.

Award winners will attend a week-long residential programme BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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in the UK in June, when they will receive their award at Buckingham Palace from Her Majesty The Queen.

Tevin Shepherd, aged 22, has been selected in recognition of his work highlighting life-changing opportunities for young people.

“ProjectCan aims to engage young people in education, entrepreneurship and leadership. Since 2013 we have introduced student councils into secondary schools, and numbers have risen from 10% to 80%. And now I am so excited to be a part of the Queen’s Young Leadership Programme but more importantly I am honoured to serve the young people of Saint Lucia,” Shepherd says.

The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme was established in 2014 by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society in recognition of the Queen’s lifetime of service to the Commonwealth. Over the next three years the programme will support thousands of young people to achieve their goals.

“Once again 60 incredible young people from around the Commonwealth have shown strength, leadership, empathy and drive. Some of our winners are just embarking on their leadership journey and others are more established. Either way, we recognise not only what these amazing young people have achieved, but also their potential in changing people’s lives for the better in the countries and communities in which they live,” Dr Astrid Bonfield, Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust said. ¤

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* CUSTOMS BROKERS & SHIPPING * FREIGHT FORWARDERS * SHIPPING AGENTS

Soufriere Office: Bridge Street,

Tel: 457-1753 • Fax: 457-1758 Vieux Fort Office: Clarke Street,

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MONGIRAUD STREET, P. O. BOX 1792, CASTRIES, ST. LUCIA TEL: (758) 459 0127 FAX: (758) 456 0809 EMAIL: USA@CANDW.LC

1st Floor Financial Centre Building Bridge Street P.O. Box 1860 Castries Tel: (758) 451-3244 | Fax: (758) 458-1222 Website: www.ecglobalinsurance.com | Email: ecglobal@ecfh.com

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IN THE KNOW

On Branding:

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Adapting To An Online World

or a small business owner the Internet can be an overwhelming place. Social media and content marketing is hard to ignore (though you’d rather just ignore it!) yet such an essential part of how brands build relationships with customers today.

The market is changing, around 40% of the world’s population are online. When your customer wants to learn something new or research a new purchase, they call on the number one search engine in the world “GOOGLE”. When they need advice, they reach out on social media, blogs and forums like Facebook, Quora or Tripadvisor.

The top advisors informing their purchases are bloggers, forums and review sites. The game has changed. Even Google has changed how its search engine ranks websites and it is the content creators that will rank higher.

This is why your business needs one of the most important SEO tools of our generation, a blog. Some of the advantages of having a blog for your business are:

Inexpensive Way to Build Brand Awareness Except for the time you put in to write articles, this is an inexpensive way to reach new customers. They are online searching for information and you want your company to be the one to enlighten, educate and add value to them.

According to Convario (2011), the average BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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By: Hanna Fitz

click-through rate for paid advertising online was 2% and the conversion rate for banner ads is currently 4% and on the decline. Search Engine Land shares that up to 80% of people ignore Googlesponsored ads.

This is a compelling case for starting and running a business blog. This is supported by the Hubspot survey, which found that 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers.

Content is king and a great way to build your brand and generate leads online.

Your customers are already using the world’s biggest search engine Google to get information. It’s very likely that your competitors are already running a blog for lead generating and SEO. You need to get your company out there and start building your brand authority in your niche by posting information relevant to your target audience on your blog. ¤

It’s Personal Your blog is a great way to build conversations and relationships with your customers. It’s where you can talk about your products and services without being sales-y and act as an advisor. Through the comments feed on your blog, it also allows for two-way communication where customers can ask questions and interact with your company. It’s a great way to build trust and authority in your market.

Blogs Generate Leads 23% of total Internet usage time is devoted to social networks or blogs.

This is why blogging is a great tool for attracting new customers and improving your organic search reach. You can leverage keywords that your customers are using to search for information online which are now linked to your website through your blog. Unless your brand has already built a serious following, it is unlikely that a person will type the name of your business into the search engines.

Relevant content is what will generate leads and drive traffic to your website.

Hanna Fitz is the founder and Chief Brand Strategist at Seashell Consulting Inc. She has worked with a number of companies in the Caribbean and Europe to find solutions to their #1 problem “getting more customers”.

She has a first class honours degree in Corporate Management from Anglia Ruskin University, a LL.M in International Commercial Law from Northumbria University, Certificate in Managing Luxury brands, Certified Project Manager and Inbound Marketer.

Follow her on Twitter @HannaGFitz.

Getting to know the General Manager of NRDF, Mr. Ronald Charles Mr. Ronald Charles has been working with NRDF for over twenty years. With a wealth of training, experience and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from the University of Leicester, England; he was promoted to General Manager on 1st January 2007. A religious family man, he is inspired daily by his two young boys and his lovely wife. He shares his thoughts about the organization.

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he National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF) was conceptualized by two previous Executive Directors of NRDF: Mr. Bryan Walcott and the late Mrs. Patricia Charles. It is a non-governmental, nonprofit organization founded on 26th April 1983 in Saint Lucia.

Mr. Charles explained that NRDF is a small organization and has a staffing complement of only thirteen (13). The loyal team continues to show dedication and is prepared to work with the organization through all its challenges. More than half the staff have been employed at NRDF ranging from five to twenty years.

As General Manager (or Executive Director), Mr. Charles is responsible for:“reviewing client loan applications and referring same to either my Credit and Finance Committee or my Board of Directors for approval. Due to the size of the organization and its limited resources (human & capital) I am charged with the responsibility of handling some of the IT functions which range from reconfiguring machines to liaising with the developers for our loans administration programme on issues with the software.

I also oversee the operational functions of the organization and as such I have regular discussions with local, regional and international institutions to explore the introduction of new training services and programmes to the people of Saint Lucia.”

He also explained that his job was very challenging: from dealing with varying personalities to keeping everyone in the team motivated.

Mr. Charles further stated that coming up through the ranks in an organization is not always easy, staff expect you should be empathetic to their needs because you also experienced their struggles. However, being in management forces one to have an

overarching view of the organization, with its sustainability and viability being the main focus.

In terms of working with the Board of Directors, he considered them to be his and the organization’s advisors.

“They provide direction and counsel on all matters affecting the NRDF. Due to the diverse skills of the members of the Board, it is comforting to know that an amicable resolution can always be reached during our deliberations. Despite their very busy schedules, Board Members are always just a phone call or an email away.”

Mr. Charles opined that Board Members should be compensated for their duties. He explained that over the last few years it has become increasingly difficult to attract competent persons to serve on the Board and more so to retain them. There is a cost associated with preparation and attending Board meetings and so to ask Board members to bear that cost in addition to paying annual membership dues is archaic.

In terms of the future of NRDF, Mr. Charles’ vision is that NRDF would become:“the OECS’s premier SME financier, Business Development, Research and Professional Training Institute. The NRDF’s new Vision looks beyond the physical boundaries of Saint Lucia and embraces the single economic space created through the OECS Single Market, which is expected to deepen the economic (and in particular; the business relationships) linkages between the OECS member states. NRDF trainees should and would be able to transfer their skills within the OECS and indeed with the wider CARICOM region. Similarly where the opportunities are presented, business clients can be drawn within the wider OECS market to harness greater economies of scale and improve financial profitability and sustainability.” ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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IN THE KNOW

Family Dogs and Infants

By Brian Ramsey

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ecently there was a newspaper article that told of a 5 month old baby being killed by the family dog in central Trinidad. To some persons this would appear to be a highly unusual incident and many would blame the dog saying that it has become vicious or “turned” on its owners. While this is killing of a human by a dog is not an every month occurrence it is also not unusual or unheard of.

The first epidemiological study of dogbite fatalities in the United States was conducted by an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1977. The study reported that all but one of the cases involved male dogs. The breeds reported in these incidents were St. Bernard, German Shepherd, Dachshund, Basenji, Collie, Husky, and Great Dane. Most incidents involved victims who were smaller or weaker than the dog. Thus, children under 5 years old accounted for the majority of victims.

A study conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School identified fatal dog bites during the period 1966–1980. They identified 74 incidents from newspapers and the medical literature. They found that the most (23) fatalities occurred in infants under 1 year BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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old, and in most cases the dog was owned by the victim’s family.

The group, Wilderness & Environmental Medicine conducted a study that covered the period 1979–2005. This 27-year study collected data from the CDC Wide-Ranging OnLine Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) program. It looked at cases in which the cause of death according to International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes was dog bites. During those 27 years, the study found 504 deaths due to dog bites.

The majority of victims (55.6%) were less than 10 years old.

Each of these studies shows that the killing of children by a dog and indeed one that is a family dog is not an unheard of occurrence. If we examine what has been reported about the incident it provides some clues about why it may have occurred and ultimately what individuals should know about having dogs for protection especially with young children.

The newspaper articles have said that the dog was a cross breed of a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd. They also state that the family had the dog for about one year and the baby was approximately 5 months old. Thus it is clear that the baby came into the family after they had already had the dog. In seeking to understand further about why this incident may have

occurred we also need to look at the traits of the two breeds that were cross bred to produce this dog.

The American Kennel Club describes the Rottweiler as calm, confident and courageous dogs with a self-assured aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships.

Brian Ramsey has a B.A. in Accounting & Management, along with an M.B.A. in Finance and over 29 years in the Caribbean security field. He is the Regional Development Director for Amalgamated Security Services Limited which operates in Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago and is the parent company of Alternative Security Services (St. Lucia) Limited. He can be contacted at bramsey@assl.com.

A Rottweiler is self-confident and responds quietly and with a wait-and-see attitude to influences in its environment. It has an inherent desire to protect home and family, and is an intelligent dog of extreme hardness and adaptability with a strong willingness to work, making them especially suited as a companion, guardian and general all-purpose dog.

Another description says Rottweilers love their owners and may behave in a clownish manner toward family and friends, but they are also protective of their territory and do not welcome strangers until properly introduced.

German Shepherd dogs have been described as courageous, keen, alert and fearless. They are cheerful, obedient and eager to learn, while also tranquil, confident, serious and clever.

German Shepherds love to be close to their families, but can be wary of strangers. This breed needs his people and should not be left isolated for long periods of time.

We thus have two breeds that love to be around the family, but are aloof to and wary of strangers, while at the same time protective of their territory. Having owned both breeds the writer can attest to the accuracy of these descriptions. The dog in this incident was cross bred between the two breeds and so it is likely that wariness of strangers was genetically heightened in this dog.

If we now take all the previous information and approach this situation not from human thinking but from the mind of a dog we will see that some dogs, especially these two breeds, willingly accept a new addition to the family and may even become protective of this new addition possibly viewing the child as a new puppy. Other dogs of these two breeds however can view this newborn infant as a threat to their position in the family hierarchy. They become jealous and resent the intrusion of this child which is now vying for the attention of the masters.

These are dogs that love to be around people and to receive attention from their owners and now they find themselves in the situation where they are receiving less attention and this stranger, which their genetic traits make them wary of, is receiving some of the attention that they formerly received. As a result a dog with this type of breeding reacts negatively and that can be by either seeking to dominate this new addition by biting and making the infant understand that “you are subordinate to me” or in severe cases biting to kill with the intention of getting rid of this intruder and so regain their position in the hierarchy.

How therefore should dog owners deal with the situation where they are expecting a baby and have a dog that has been “like their baby”. Some persons take the approach of giving the dog additional attention in the weeks leading up to the baby’s arrival because they know that once the baby comes they will have less time to spend with the dog. This approach however can be a fatal mistake because now the dog begins to expect even more attention. Instead experts advise the opposite and say to reduce the attention given to the dog prior to the baby’s arrival so that when the baby comes to the home the dog does not perceive the baby as the cause of the reduced attention. Even with that approach however dog owners should exercise care in the interaction between the dog and their infant and always be present and paying attention until many months after when you are sure that the dog has bonded with the child. ¤

Blair’s Auto Parts Bois D’Orange, Gros-Islet Hwy, P. O. Box QAB 275, La Guerre Tel: 1(758) 450-6609 1(758) 717-5723 1(758) 488-0402

We Offer a Wide Range of Parts for all Types of Vehicles

Suzuki • Nissan • Toyota • Mitsubushi • Isuzu • Mazda We also sell brake pads for:

APV • D-Max • Navara • Mark 11 Model 2000 – Up. Other parts in stock are:

Water Pumps • Lead Wires • Brakes Hoses • Suspension Parts Wheel Cylinders • Mounts and MUCH MORE

Mongiraud, Gros Islet, P.O. Box 8330 Choc Cell: (758) 484-9007 Tel: (758) 721-7201 • 452-8022/32 Fax: (758) 452-0030 Email: hotsports@candw.lc Web: hsautorental.com BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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IN THE KNOW

Customer Satisfaction:

Priority

C

onsumer buying behavior has significantly evolved over the last decade, breeding a new wave of more demanding customers. Most having experienced poor customer service at some point, they are wary of services rendered by businesses they currently utilize and even more cautious of new experiences. Let’s be honest for a second, consumers have choices! A product or service cannot survive on its own in a globalized market without customer satisfaction as a key factor in the value chain. The interaction with the target audience will determine a company’s competitive edge and the success in business, with access to the online world as a constant reminder of how easily public opinion can derail a company’s reputation.

Below are a few hand-picked tips on what consumers actively seek to become satisfied and remain a loyal customer!

1. Develop Your Customer Experience

Do you know your consumer? The demographics? Buying patterns? How would you discover the experience your customer seeks and get him talking about his experience in a positive way? It is simple, perform a full analysis of your services and that of your competitors’.

Whatever is working better for them and not for you will be the gap you need to fill.

Then, enhance your customer experience to mirror your consumers’ needs. Don’t copy and paste your competitors, but learn from their approach. Note this BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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exercise may not be as easy as a customer service seminar for employees, and may entail a drastic change of the buying process. However, your employees must understand the importance of customer satisfaction at every stage of the organizational structure.

2. Keep Strategizing A good strategy can be used over and over again. But, can a great strategy become the norm and stay the norm? The short answer is ‘no’. In business while it is not necessary to constantly reinvent one’s approach and constantly change the business strategy, however, a firm should always evaluate its strategy to ensure it is relevant. Minor tweaks are allowed if the situation calls for it. A good way to find out if your strategy is working is through consumer surveys. Your consumers are getting smarter, why shouldn’t you?

#1

4. Remember Consumers are Your Partners

Consumers are people too! If your firm makes a mistake, own up to it and make it right. Treat your consumers like your partners and develop a relationship based on trust. Know that loyalty is earned and not automatically given. As such, keep your customers in the loop of changes and they will never be disappointed. Honesty in this case is the best policy. Having a history of positive experiences will keep customers coming back and spreading the word about your incredible service.

Remember to say Thank You, always! ¤

3. Have a Reward Based System Customer appreciation is tied to employee appreciation. It is essential to create a work environment in which employees feel encouraged and constantly motivated to deliver and in turn, consumers will feel special and stick with your firm. Rewards may be by targets with monetary or other benefits. The choice is yours.

Ultimately, employees enjoy timely incentives to show that their contribution toward making the business a success has not gone unnoticed. Small gestures of staff luncheons and time off, all play an important part as well.

Kezia Preville is a Marketing and Business Development Specialist with over 10 years’ experience in various industries.

For more information, contact her at AdVizze Inc on kezia@ad-vizze.com

Richard Peterkin, Ronald “Boo” Hinkson and Brian Louisy Head 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours List

T

Richard Neville Clairmont Peterkin

Truscott Ronald Georges Hinkson

he Queen has been graciously pleased on the occasion of Her Majesty’s Birthday, and on the advice of Her Majesty’s Saint Lucia Ministers to approve of the following Honours in the 2016 Birthday Honours List:

Commander of the British Empire – C.B.E. Richard Neville Clairmont Peterkin For services to the private sector and sports administration To be Ordinary Officers of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire - O.B.E. Truscott Ronald Georges Hinkson for services to Music Brian Bartholomew Louisy for services to the Public and Private Sectors

Brian Bartholomew Louisy

To be Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – M.B.E. Timothy Montgomery Mondesir for services to Music Denis Telford Saint Claire - for services to Sport Ms. Felicia Mc Farlane - for services to Education Deland Jerome St Jules - for services to Music British Empire Medal (Civil Division) - B.E.M. Mrs Veronique Alexander for services to Young People in Education Denis Laurent - for services to Business Mrs Rosemary Jules - for Public Service Mrs Agatha Fevriere - Charlery for services to Education and the Community Ms. Quill Barthelemy - for services to the Community

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7. What can the market manage?: Is it financially viable to get a pay rise if the economy is generally bad? We are in the midst of an economic crisis, if your employer cannot afford to pay you more because of the universal economic crisis; it is unfair to expect a more attractive salary if it is not commercially viable. In other words, compare salaries within the same fiscal reality, not at different times when there were different financial circumstances.

How to Negotiate a Better Salary…

By Trudy O. Glasgow

Salary negotiations are never easy. This subject is beyond the scope of the current Labour laws in Saint Lucia. The employer and employee may feel that there are not on the same page in terms of what the salary should be. Here are some things to take into consideration before you sit down with your employer to negotiate your salary increase.

1. Timing: how long have you been with the company?:

4. Evaluate the financial health of your employer:

Have you received a raise since you started? If you have been working for the company for a few months, barely out of the probation period, especially if you had to be trained on the job, it may not be the best time to ask for an increase in your salary. It would be advisable for you to wait a longer period of time (at least a year) before you ask for more money.

If it is clear that your employer cannot accommodate your request currently because business has been slow, then it is unreasonable to expect to be successful in your request.

2. Do some research in your field:

Some industries such as banking and hospitality pays a lot more for entry level positions than others. Therefore, they are some of the most favoured jobs for school leavers. If your friend works in such industries and you do not, do not compare your salary to theirs: it is like comparing apples to oranges.

Find out very discreetly how much persons in similar positions are making in the country that you are living in. Do not compare salaries across the board with other countries as it is very likely that different economic realities will exist such as the cost and standard of living. Therefore, the salary for doing a comparable in another jurisdiction could vary considerably.

3. Be flexible: If you do not get the raise you want straight away but a promise from your employer that it will be up for consideration shortly, then try to hold on.

Or even if it cannot be accommodated immediately, see if it can be facilitated in the near future. A negative response could be temporary.

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5. Don’t look at how much your friends are making in another field:

6. How much education and experience do you have?: If you had to receive on the job training at your current job, this would have been at an additional expense to your employer. If you do not have the requisite qualifications to even get the job and you are being paid a good salary, it may not be sensible ‘to rock the boat’ if you have no other job to go to, and your employer can get someone else swiftly to take your place.

8. Do you deserve a raise?: Is your job performance beyond reproach? Do you excel at all the tasks and responsibilities that are assigned to you? If you can objectively answer in the affirmative, you are in a stronger position to request a raise. If, however, the last job appraisal you received from your employer was average or below average, then your request for a raise is highly unlikely. ¤

Ms. Trudy O. Glasgow, B.A (History) (UWI), LL.B (Hons.) (Hull), B.V.C, (Northumbria) LL.M, P.C.H.E, (Sheffield) is a practising attorney at the law firm of Trudy O. Glasgow & Associates and a court-appointed mediator and author in Saint Lucia (and has also taught law at University level in the UK).

Ms. Glasgow is the current Vice President of the Bar Association of Saint Lucia and sits on various boards and committees including Chairperson of the National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF); a founding member of 100 women who care (St. Lucia) and the Rotary Club of Gros Islet. She wrote a weekly legal column, Simply law, in The Voice newspaper for eight years (2007-2015) and published a book which is a selection of her articles with some new material. Simply law is now published in weekend edition of THE MIRROR newspaper.

This article is for general use only, for advice specifically for your case, please see your lawyer.

Coupled with their exciting entry into the local market, CLL has successfully undertaken street lighting projects across the region (Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, Guyana, Suriname to name a few). “For us, partnering with govÂŹernments to quickly achieve sustainable energy efficiency is icing on the cakeâ€? says CounÂŹtry Manager for St Lucia, Mrs. Derniea Serieux-Ellis.

She added: “We want to make a difference. We want to do the right thing for the environment. It’s not just about selling prodÂŹuct. It’s about providing real, tangible solutions to our clients so that they too feel like they have made a difference.

This is the basis of the CLL success story and CLL SLU will be no different.�

Efforts which began in July 2015 have finally brought CaÂŹribbean LED Lighting (St Lucia) Inc to this point.

Caribbean LED Lighting Sets Up in St. Lucia

Working quietly with CorpoÂŹrate St Lucia conducting energy audits that show their clients the true impact of an LED tranÂŹsition, they have been building their reputation on island not to be overshadowed by the awe-inspiring achievements of their Barbados-based sister company.

T

he only regional player in the manufacturing of Energy Efficient LED Lights, Caribbean LED Lighting (St Lucia) Inc, has planted seed in St. Lucia after officially launching their Bois D’Orange Showroom and Retail Store in early May.

The company is the vision made reality of Chairman Mr. Jim Reid, now partnered with Mr. Gerard Borely, CEO, who is commanding the strategic expansion efforts across the CaÂŹribbean and Latin America.

The new company says it will provide all types of residential, commercial, landscape and street lights -- and has set out an ambitious growth strategy that is already bearing fruit. ¤

The sister company, based in Barbados, manufactures all types of residential, commer-cial, landscape and street lights and has set out an ambitious growth strategy that is already bearing fruit.

Talent and Imagination from Cover to Cover “we develop and maintain our Clients’ Business Marketing Needs�

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IN THE KNOW

SALCC to Become First Saint Lucia University College

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Gonsalves Re-states Opposition to CIPs

he St Vincent and the Grenadines government says it remains opposed to the controversial Citizenship

by Investment Programme (CIP) as a means of luring foreign investors to the island.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, addressing the launch of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Finance Fair, said that his administration remains opposed to the CIP which he described as a “race to the bottom”.

I

n her most recent Throne Speech, Gover¬nor-General of Saint Lucia, H.E. Dame Pearlette Louisy, made reference to the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College’s on¬going journey to establish itself as a University College.

The Governor-General said the effort fell in line with gov¬ernment’s mandate to raise the standard and quality of educa¬tion, particularly in the tertiary sector.

“The transformation to a Uni¬versity College acknowledges the need to expand tertiary education provision to a wider segment of the population and to enhance the quality of the hu¬man resource which will under¬gird our national development efforts,” she said.

“It is anticipated that legisla¬tion establishing the Univer¬sity College will be laid before the House during the 2016-2017 academic year to enable the first entrants to register in August 2017 for the institution’s own Bachelor’s degrees in Business, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences and Nursing.”

She admitted the initiative to establish the Community Col¬lege as a University College would elicit a great deal of time and effort.

“It will of course take a few years for the institution to be fully established as it consoli-dates its program offerings and improves the quality and level of its administrative structure, its physical plant, its staffing and support services. The cost of operating an institution of that nature will be significant. The College is in the process of restructuring its operational and financial management sys¬tems to meet these needs, but collectively, we as a community will need to determine how these future costs will be met.”

H.E. Dame Pearlette Louisy is a former educator and principal of the Sir Arthur Lewis Commu¬nity College. ¤

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Several Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts-Nevis and Dominica have established CIPs through which foreign investors are given citizenship in return for making a significant investment in the socio-economic development of these countries.

Gonsalves told the private sector that he was re-affirming his Unity Labour Party (ULP) position on the issue and that his government has no intention of having a Citizenship by Investment Programme.

“That is to say, the selling of citizenship and passports,” he said.

“The five other independent countries of the OECS have gone that way. I wish them well. We just simply have a different perspective on it, because, in one jurisdiction, which has been in the forefront, a lot of problems are occurring,” he said in an apparent reference to St Kitts and Nevis, which he did not name.

“You have a population of 50,000 and you have 12,000 economic citizens,” Gonsalves added.

Prime Minister Gonsalves said that the space is narrowing for economic citizenship programmes, adding “and there is a race to the bottom in all of them and there are a lot of good products in this area in other countries where people from China and the Middle East are rushing to - Austria, Portugal, but, of course, they have different types of better run regimes for these types of things. ¤

Taiwan Donates EC$3.5M for Gros Islet HRDC and Vigie Beach Vending Facility

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he Embassy of the Re¬public of China (Taiwan) has once again demon¬strated that nation’s support for the Government and people of Saint Lucia, with a generous do¬nation for the advancement of various national improvement initiatives.

Ambassador of the Repub¬lic of China (Taiwan) to Saint Lucia, His Excellency Mr. Ray Mou, presented two cheques totalling EC$3,888,113.57. to Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony.

An amount of EC$2,902,583.35 was presented for works to¬wards completion of the Gros Islet Human Resource Devel¬opment Centre. The proposed Gros Islet HRDC is a two-level structure, which will incorpo¬rate an auditorium, conference facilities, a concession area, of¬fice space, and a restaurant fa¬cility with on-street access.

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Veterinary Division Offers Support to Livestock Farmers

he Veterinary and Livestock Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture has recently undertaken a drive to in¬form livestock owners of the ser¬vices that the division provides.

Auria King-Cenac, the Chief Veterinary Officer, says the in¬tention of the division is to work alongside all livestock producers to meet the desired objective of increasing the production of qual¬ity livestock within Saint Lucia.

According to the CVO, “We have different commodity sys¬tems, and because of our limited resources we have persons geared at working with different com¬modities.

We have the small ruminants - sheep and goats and cattle; we have apiculture - bees and honey, we have the veterinary public health and quarantine unit, the swine production unit and we also have the poultry production unit.”

Prime Minister Anthony wel¬comed the gesture of support from the Republic of China (Tai¬wan), noting that the arrival of this performance, conference and meeting space can be trans¬formative for the people of Gros Islet town, suggesting that cor¬rect use of the complex can have a profound effect on the culture of the community.

Said Dr. Anthony, “I expect that it will also add value to the tourism product of the town as it would mean that the town can now infuse the arts more into its vibrant nightlife. It will now have a theatrical space for per¬formances and shows.

And so, I urge you to collaborate with agencies like the Cultural De¬velopment Foundation to make this a reality.

“Furthermore, it also means that there will be space avail¬able in Gros Islet for training of the arts: a place where our young people can practice and rehearse for performances of song, dance and theatre.”

Additionally, an amount of EC$985,530.22 was presented to¬wards the ongoing completion works for the Vigie Beach Vend¬ing Facility. Managed by the National Conservation Author¬ity, the new home for vendors along Vigie beach is expected to be ready for occupancy within the next few months.

The project was started in July 2014. ¤

Mrs. Cenac said that many are still unaware of the division’s ex¬istence and the range and level of services it has to offer.

The division can assist with any problems that livestock own¬ers may encounter. Sometimes an owner may have an issue with an animal and they would go to the store and purchase a product to administer to the ani¬mal not knowing what the prob¬lem is.

But we have a complement of staff who is willing to assist.

All that is necessary is to give us a call if you have any situation.

If you are looking to go into pro¬duction or if you are expanding your production you can give us a call as well, and we will give you the required advice. ¤ The Veterinary and Livestock Di¬vision at the Ministry of Agricul¬ture can be contacted at 758 468 5621 BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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Sandals Continues to Exemplify Excellence in Human Resources with Annual Prestige Awards in Saint Lucia Sandals Resorts continues to exemplify and set the bar for Human Resource excellence in Saint Lucia.

With that said, the Luxury Included® resort chain, which was recognized by the Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce in January for Excellence in Human Resource Development, recently recognized three of its most outstanding talents in the island through its annual Prestige Awards.

both professional and social capacities, leading and supporting where necessary.

General Manager for Sandals Halcyon Spa & Beach Resort Christopher Elliott said LeRiche’s recognition was nothing short of fitting, considering her overall dedication to the property, its growth and her colleagues.

This Diamond Talent honour is bestowed upon one individual from each Sandals and Beaches property and sister company throughout the Caribbean and stands as the highest honour at a resort level for any talent.

Other outstanding awards for Sandals Halcyon include Platinum Talent of the Year Anselma Dosseir from Club Sandals, MVP of the Year Kim D’Auvergne – Manager of the Red Lane Spa, Sandals Foundation Sentinel Award winner Chester Dupree and A-Team of the Year – Club Sandals.

In Saint Lucia, Emeka LeRiche from Sandals Halcyon Spa & Beach Resort was recognized as the Diamond Talent of the Year for her outstanding commitment to the development of Sandals Halcyon for 2015. LeRiche, Coordinator in the property’s Maintenance Department, remains a beacon at Sandals Halcyon in

The pomp continued at Sandals Regency LaToc Golf Resort & Spa where talents were recognized in an arena fit for gods and goddesses. And as the Egyptians did it, this team brought to the throne Vincent Prospere from its Maintenance Department for his remarkable performance all around. Prospere was

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presented with the Diamond Talent Award and standing by his side is Platinum Talent of the Year Award winner Anicia Mitchell from the House Keeping team.

Emmanuel Mercier took the Sandals Foundation Sentinel Award at this property, while the Front Office, under the leadership of Terry Felix, copped the A-Team of the Year Award. The MVP Award went to Laundry Manager Pauline Reid.

Michael James, General Manager for Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa said the standings of his property and indeed all Sandals and Beaches Resorts throughout the Caribbean is owed to the hundreds of talents who have and continue to dedicate themselves to the overall quality and growth of the brand.

Wrapping up the three award ceremonies was Sandals Grande with its Hollywoodstyle presentation that sought to highlight the talents for the stars that they are.

General Manager Winston Anderson believes the red carpet gala affair was at sheer minimum the level of pamper necessary for his team of dedicated hospitality professionals.

Anderson personally presented the Diamond Talent Award to Orion Brown from the Bars Department. Standing beside him is Jenna Samuel with the Platinum Talent of the Year Award and Terrol Compton with the Sandals Foundation Sentinel Award.

The A-Team award for Sandals Grande Spa & Beach Resort went to the Maintenance Department, which has stood considerably strong amidst the continued developments and upgrades of the property. The MVP here is Elite Services Manager Rohan Louis.

For the year ahead, Emeka LeRiche, Vincent Prospere and Orion Brown will serve as the faces of their respective Resorts in Saint Lucia. They were all presented with cash and other prizes that include one-week paid vacations at any Sandals Resorts in Caribbean.

Each will then go on to represent their resort at the annual Ultimate Awards set for Jamaica later this year. Here they will meet and interact with their counterparts from Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts from across the Caribbean and others.

From this gathering, one lucky individual will emerge as the Ultimate Winner and stand as the face of the company for one year. They are also spoilt with trips on the Chairman’s jet, vacations and other incentives. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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101

TOURISM FOCUS

Left to right: President GP Group Georgi Vassilev and Cristo Pancheff

SLHTA Launches Virtual Agricultural Clearing House

US$220 Million Choiseul Resort Project Given CIP Approval

A

European-based com¬pany has been granted approval to undertake a major real estate project in Choiseul. The announcement was made recently at a joint press conference between the developers and senior execu¬tives of Saint Lucia’s Citizenship

by Investment Programme (CIP).

The company, GP Group (Saint Lucia), is the developer of a luxurious hotel and beach resort in Choiseul, which was announced by St Lucia’s Tourism Minis¬ter, Lorne Theophilus, in March this year.

T

The US$220 million resort de¬velopment will comprise of a 120room luxury recreational centre, 40 bespoke villas with ocean views, spa centre, restaurants, sports and recreational centre and a bio garden, among others.

The VACH is an electronic platform through which ho¬tels, restaurants, and food and beverage distributors obtain information on the availability of crops, thereby facilitating an increase in the sale of local pro¬duce, and encouraging import substitution.

Director of Tourism, Louis Lewis said the Saint Lucia Tour¬ist Board (SLTB) is very excited about the development pros¬pects of the project and looks forward to seeing it implement¬ed soon.

he Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SL¬HTA) has been working to develop initiatives targeted at strengthening linkages be¬tween the tourism and agri¬cultural sectors.

Following the March 1 ap¬pointment of an Agricul¬ture/Tourism Liaison Officer Donette Ismael, one of the key initiatives is the imple¬mentation of a Virtual Ag¬ricultural Clearing House (VACH) program.

“I envision an agricultural sector with an enhanced ca¬pacity to supply quality and price-competitive produce that meets the demands of the hospitality industry,” Ms. Is¬mael said.

The virtual agricultural clearing house is currently op¬erational, but will be officially launched at the SLHTA’s 52nd AGM Tourism Linkages Trade¬show on May 19.

Farmers interested in being a part of the VACH can contact Donette Ismael at 758.485.9816 or dismael@slhta.com.

The SLHTA cannot guaran¬tee the sale of any agricultural crops and is not responsible for the pricing, quality, delivery and distribution of the agricul¬tural produce. ¤ BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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GP Group’s Chief Executive Officer for overseas operations, Cristo Pancheff, said the compa¬ny expects to employ some 200 people during the construction phase and another 300 during the operations of the resort.

Pancheff told the media that the company will also look at ways in which to preserve and expand the natural resources in that particular area.

He explained, “What it really signifies is the opening of the South-West of the island, which up to now hasn’t been utilized for tourism purposes. It also cre¬ates an opportunity for employ¬ment in that part of the island. It is also happening at a time when the demand is strong. So we have every reason to believe that it will be a success.”

Lewis said this project will have long term benefits for Saint Lucia, as it would ensure the continuous inflow of people and create connectivity with the agriculture sector.

The Choiseul resort project was ap¬proved shortly after the earlier approval for another hotel project in Belvedere, Canar¬ies, to be undertaken by a British group, the Boka Group. ¤

From Wine Resorts to Medical Tourism Exploring Niche Tourism Opportunities in the Caribbean

T

he attraction to the Caribbean for most is the beautiful scenery, endless sunshine and resplendent white beaches. Visitors cannot seem to get enough of this tourism mecca. Last year saw the second year in a row that the Caribbean excelled ahead of the rest of the world in tourism arrivals, and the sixth consecutive year of growth for the Caribbean. Globally, tourism arrivals rose by 4.4% according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization compared to the Caribbean which grew by an impressive 7% with expenditure growth of 4.2% relative to the previous year.

With visitors ranging from the traveller seeking simple vacation solutions - such as all-inclusive - to the adventurer looking for unique hide-a-ways with an exotic flair, more and more the Caribbean is taking its place among the top locations in the world for its luxury hotels and second home developments.

With more than 7,000 islands and islets, the Caribbean presents a wealth of investment opportunities for the savvy investor looking to capitalize on what is clearly a growing market. But, it can be confusing navigating the plethora of opportunities.

The Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) in collaboration with the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) has pulled together some of the most attractive investor-ready opportunities to be found across the region. These will be unveiled at the Caribbean Investment Summit to be held at the Marriot Biscayne Bay, Miami on May, 13, 2016.

As the 3rd Caribbean Investment Summit and the first one to be held in North America, this event will present several investment

ready opportunities to the attending patrons. Opportunities range from specialist wine resorts and luxury tourism residential developments to a World Baseball tourism venue, spa and beachfront properties for villas and condominium developments.

Also, on the list of offerings for investors are locations for marinas, horseracing facilities, agricultural estates and untouched scenic locations suitable for eco-tourism. There are also opportunities in the USD $38.5-55 billion medical tourism market with offerings for 5 star developments in the Caribbean.

Some islands are even open to discussing the leasing of islets – quickly becoming home of the wealthy and celebrities! Senior government officials and investment facilitation officers will be on hand to discuss these opportunities at length.

The Caribbean Investment Summit is funded and co-organized by the Integration & Trade Sector of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as a part of a Regional Public Goods Initiative entitled: Support to Foreign Direct Investment in the Caribbean. Emceed by fDi Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Courtnay Fingar, the event will also present investment opportunities in the business process outsourcing and renewable energy sectors in the Caribbean. ¤ For more information on this event visit www.carib-export.com/cismiami More information about Caribbean Export can be found at www.carib-export.com. Contact: JoEllen Laryea, PR and Communications, Caribbean Export Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999, Email: jlaryea@carib-export.com BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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103

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Start the Day Right!

4 Morning Rituals That You Can Do at Your Desk.

I

By: Samantha Turner-Girard

f you are like most of the working population, your morning may feel like a short, quick burst of chaos! The rush to get the children dressed, the packed lunches to be made, and trying to beat the morning traffic can take its toll day after day. What happens with all that morning chaos and angst? You take it to work with you and lovingly spread it to all of your co-workers like a flu, where eventually it embeds itself into your workspace and productivity is negatively affected.

Sounds dramatic I know, however just by incorporating a few simple rituals into your morning routine - at your desk you have the power to totally transform your work day before it has even begun!

Meditation. As soon as you get to your desk, before you clock in, sit quietly and set your phone timer for five minutes. To begin just observe the breath without altering it, allow your breath to be-come deeper and fuller as your abdomen expands and contracts to make space for expansion of your lungs as they fill with fresh nutrient rich oxygen. Just by practicing this five minutes daily before you begin work you are enhancing cognitive function making you sharper and more alert as well as resetting your nervous system and counteracting the stress of the morning commute.

This feeling of calm is also carried out throughout the day making you more likely to remain calm in the face of upcoming stressful situations. Observing the breath is just one way of meditating and there are several, but this is a good place to start.

Pressure Point Massage. When our mind is tense and stressed our body perceives danger and responds by tensing up and creating energetic and muscular blockages at certain points. This ancient healing technique is renowned as a method

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to boost the immune system, release tension, increase circulation, reduce pain and promote vibrancy. Using the pads of the fingers and firm pressure start at the scalp by making small circular motions then move to face, massaging along the eyebrows by gently pinching and moving from the inner edge to outer. Next the ears, massaging between the index finger and thumb from the top of the outer ear towards the earlobes.

Tea. A kick of caffeine in the morning may do wonders to boost the energy levels, but coffee may not be the best source of a long lasting energy and mood boost.

Due to the unique blend of polyphenols and caffeine found in black tea it provides a slow, steady release of energy. The synergistic blend of caffeine and a theanine - a polyphenol found almost exclusively in Camellia Sinensis (the tea plant) provides a gentle energy boost and mental alertness minus the jittery effect that caffeine alone provides.

Black tea is also known to help prevent orthostatic hypertension -- dizziness caused by standing too quickly -- and is possibly effective for reducing the risk of heart attacks, atherosclerosis, kidney stones, Parkinson’s disease and ovarian cancer. Begin to reap the benefits of tea immediately by making the switch to what is touted as the world’s healthiest beverage.

Positive Affirmation or create a mantra for the day. Be you own cheerleader by creating a personal mantra of affirmation at the start of your day or even your week. It is now becoming widely known that every thought and emotion is a precursor to a chemical reaction that immediately changes our neurochemicals which in turn affects our mental, physical and spiritual health. By creating your personal mantra or affirmation at the

beginning of the day you have the ability to create the groundwork for how the brain reacts to stressful situations. By reciting it or memorising it you are able to bring your awareness to the mantra or affirmation whenever you feel a stressful thought arising. Choose quotes that resonate with you, these can be a line from a favourite song, a poem or simply an inspirational quote found on Facebook or the bible verse. Keep it short so you can commit it to memory - the only rules are that is must be positive and it must resonate with you!

You will spend eight or more hours a day engaged in your work activities, so it makes sense to spend little more than twenty minutes to ensure you start as you mean to go. Make a plan to incorporate these simple activities into your work life so you can avoid the trap of chaos before it even begins. ¤

Samantha Turner-Girard trained as an Acupuncturist in London, United Kingdom and is a certified Master of Medical Qigong as well as a Chopra Center Certified Vedic Educator. She is the Owner / Founder of the Qi Garden.

Find out how Samantha can work with you or your organisation through her bespoke. Corporate Mindfulness Programmes by contacting her at samantha@theqigarden.com

TIPS ON HAVING A SAFE AND HEALTHY CARNIVAL Dr. Tanya Destang-Beaubrun is a Family Physician, Certified Wellness & Lifestyle Empowerment Coach, wife, mother, and a passionate lover of life. She has dedicated her career to helping people feel their best in their bodies so they can live happy, healthy, more vibrant lives.

The Carnival Season is Here!

Those who know me will attest to the fact that this is one of my favorite times of the year.

I love the music, and parties and dancing with my friends.

I love the costumes and colors and the feathers. Oh how I love those feathers!

This is the one time of the year when we “free-up”, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about having a safe , healthy and enjoyable Carnival season.

1) Prepare for the route

Water is usually readily available on the route, so please use it freely.

The carnival route can be taxing, especially if you’re not used to exercising.

Start preparing your body a few months before by starting a fitness program.

Alcohol is also a major contributor to dehydration.

As with everything else, I suggest you start slowly, and create a balanced routine.

If you’re new to exercise, start with walking - 30 minutes 3-4 times a week.

Then gradually build up to brisk walking or alternating walking / running, and increase the duration to 45-60 minutes and the frequency to 4-5 times a week.

This will build up your aerobic capacity.

It’s also advisable to include strength training. This will help shed pounds, build muscle mass and help you look toned.

2) Stay hydrated Carnival in July means sun and more sun.

Pair that with the physical activity and you have a great recipe for dehydration.

She holds an Integrative Health Coaching Certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), and recently certified under Gabrielle Bernstein’s Level 1 and 2 Spirit Junkie Master Class.

Find out more about her at: www.tanyabeaubrun.com

So here goes:

If you have any pre-existing health issues, please see your Doctor before starting any new fitness program.

A graduate of the University of the West Indies, she has spent the past 23 years in Private Practice, using a holistic approach to health and advocating for the heart and soul to be brought back into the practice of Medicine.

I usually suggest alternating an alcoholic drink with water. This will ensure you maintain an adequate state of hydration.

3) Don’t forget to Eat The excitement of preparing for the jumpup, along with lack of sleep can affect our appetite.

Please ensure you have a good breakfast before you leave the house, and eat along the route.

You don’t want to drink on an empty stomach….

4) Remember to take your medication If you take medication for a chronic illness, please remember to take your medication as prescribed.

If your dosing requires you to take your medication whilst you will be on the road, plan ahead and take it with you and REMEMBER TO TAKE IT.

5) Practice safe sex Alcohol paired with the heat and music can create an atmosphere that lowers our inhibitions.

Plan ahead and carry condoms with you, just in case.

This is also the time to ensure that you remember to take your contraceptive pills -put reminders in your phones to alert you.

6) DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE Plan ahead and either have a designated driver to get you back home, ask a friend to pick you up, or get a ride.

Nuff said!

I think these are the basics.

I’ll see you on de road ...

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NEW COMPANY REGISTRATIONS COMPANY

NATURE OF BUSINESS

DIRECTORS

East Caribbean Lodging Ltd.

Accommodation & Tours

Bonaventure Henry

KDA Holdings Inc.

Retail & Distribution

Kervin Augustin, Kishma Serieux - Augustin

Vitalis Farms Inc.

To Provide Farming and Agricultural Products

Randolph Shaun Alcindor, Anthony Alcindor

The Cardiovascular Centre of Excellence (St.Lucia) Inc.

Medical Services

Jonathan Romel Daniel

Rodney Bay Land Holdings 2016 Ltd.

Land Holding

Donna Waneta Wellington, Brian Clarke

Hobie Clothing Store Ltd.

Operation of a Clothing Retail Store

Larry Chereiki, Jianna Chreiki

Iguana Bay Resorts Ltd.

Resorts Services

Mark D. Maragh

SRI Sunshine Ltd.

Exports & Imports

Anil Kumar Nerella, Tallapureddy Sai Naveen Reddy

Pelican Holdings Inc.

Property Holding Company

Kezia Sam

Island Connex Inc.

Island Destination Marketing

Michael Harte Jr.

AdVizze Inc.

Consultancy

Kezia Preville

GP Group Construction Ltd.

Construction

Georgi Vassilev , Christo Alexandrov Pancheff

Kingfish Inc. / Littlefish Inc.

Property Holding Company

David Paul Cross

DMR Insights Ltd.

Marketing & Consultancy

Baby K. Lord

SLUMAR Ltd.

Maritime Consultancy, Maritime Service in General

Andreas Nicolaou, Andreas Philippou

Champion Sports Inc.

Administration of Sports Data, Marketing, Sales and Other Investments.

Caroline Flood -Edgar

Bullseye Poultry Farms Ltd.

Poultry Farming

Tevin Joseph

20/20 Optical and Eye Care Ltd.

Eye Care Services

Mrs. Paul Shah

The Heart Specialist Centre (St.Lucia) Inc.

Medical Services

Jonathan Romel Daniel

Institute for Empowerment and Development Initiatives (IDEI) Inc.

A Youth - Led Think Tank, Operating Under the Mentorship of Experienced Professionals to Empower the Youth, Creating Leaders and Advocates for Development and Social Reform.

Melissa Hippolyte – Descartes, Thervina Mathurin Tommy Descartes, Fiona Hinkson

JAL Inc.

Buying, Selling and Management of Property; Production, Manufacturing and Trading of Goods.

John Louison

Infinity Tech Solutions Inc.

Engineering Consultancy Services

Amos L. Hippolyte, Kayreen Cenac- Hippolye

Evolution Car Rental Services Ltd.

Import and Car Rental Services

Ronald Joseph, Lilia Joseph

Dame Nature Inc.

Providing Tours and Fishing

Daarsrean C.G Greene

MAC Enterprises Ltd.

Wholesale/Retail and Related Services

Marcus Blanchard

Lifestyle IP Ltd.

Property Holding Company

Robert Ainsworth, Michael Jones

VA Property & Rentals Ltd.

Property & Vehicle Rental

Andy Delmar, Veil Tobierre

Spencer’s Towing and Used Parts Services Inc.

Own Creation

Sean Emmanuel

Milly Ltd.

Property Holding Company

Kim Waldron, Jelly Ltd.

BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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106

NEW COMPANY REGISTRATIONS COMPANY

NATURE OF BUSINESS

DIRECTORS

RQ5 Ltd.

Property Holdings

IAM Jet Centre St. Lucia Ltd.

Development and Operation of a Private Paul A. Worrell, Heather P. Wiltshire Aircraft Facility, Aircraft Handling and Fuel Services and VIP Airplane Passenger.

Almond Perch Inc.

Property Holding

Anthony Alcindor

SEJ Ltd.

Property Holding

Simon Jacobs , Eliana Jacobs

Gokals Caribbean Inc.

Freezone Operations

Hira R. Asnaani, Michael Edwards

T-Total Inc.

RQ5 Parent Limited

Vincent Fevrier Hippolyte, Felix Peters

Lucantile Ltd.

Regional Marketing and Trade of Dry Goods.

Leslie L. Jn Baptiste , Tisma Jn Baptiste

Butterfly Secret Ltd.

Lingerie and Apparel

Marian Karunaratna

Altitude Climbing Inc.

Tourism, Entertainment, Sports

Gregory Malcolm Joseph

Bucket List Ltd.

Tour Operating Company

Denanauth Dhanpaul, Lisa Gardner

Blue Khaki Inc.

Architectural Design and Construction Management Consulting

Yellow Melon Inc. C383/2006, Peter Amedee

Apex Rentals Inc.

Vehicle Rentals

Joseph Maxwell, Ingrid Maxwell, Danladi Maxwell, Dedan Maxwell

Pindari West Indies Ltd.

Holding Company

Rolf Van Rooyen

Moasiac Ltd.

Retail Business

Matthew Render

Sofos Saint Lucia Ltd.

Renewable Energy, Solar Energy

Juan Francisco Mayoral Villaitodo

Able Tech Incorporated/ West Corp Limited, Build Tech Inc.

Providing Consultancy and Technical Assistance, The Design, Manufacture, Sale and Distribution, of Mechanical and Impaired Persons and Other Professional Services Ancillary Thereto.

Randall Mondsir

Finish Line Construction & Interiors Ltd.

Construction

Moses Mederick

S&C Heritage Foods Inc.

Farming & Agro Processing

Darius Plummer, Celestin Laurent

Insights Solutions Inc.

Vehicle Tracking Systems

Leo Lionel

BERO Ltd.

Real Estate Holding

Roxanne Mathurin, Benedict Mathurin

Sales Only Inc.

Sales Consultancy

Yellow Melon Inc, Anselm Mathurin

United Caribbean Developers (St.Lucia) Ltd.

Construction and Real Estate

Alberton Jean-Claude Quami Richelieu, Anissa St. Clair

Solartron (Caribbean) Inc.

Alternative Energy Solutions and Solar Energy Services

Simon Felix, Petrus Compton

Graphic Solutions Ltd.

Graphic & Printing

Aloysius Ferdinand, Evelyn Paul

West Coast Construction Company Ltd.

Construction

Starfire Inc.

Caribeno BTP Inc.

Construction

Thierry Bonnaire

Uplift Inc.

Property Holing Company

Uplift Holdings Ltd.

Saint Lucia National Conservation Fund Inc.

To Address Threats to the Region’s Marine and Coastal Resources and Management Challenges.

Vasantha Chase, John Calixte, Vaughn Charles

BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

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107

ADVERTISER’S INDEX COMPANY

Page

Advertising & Marketing Services Limited

97

COMPANY

Essential Hardware

Page

81

General Security Services Ltd.

66

Blair’s Auto Parts

93

Guyana & Trinidad Mutual

89

CIBC First Caribbean

25

Genuine Properties

57

77

International Amercian University

81

Laborie CO-operative Credit Union Ltd.

74

Caribbean Line

77

Axcel Finance

2

Cool Breeze Jeep & Car Rental DIGICEL

5

DIGICEL

16-17

EC Global Insurance

89

Lazarus Funeral Home

69

ECFH / Bank of St. Lucia

13

Renee’s Construction Co.Ltd.

73

Soufriere Foundation

73

Ernst & Young

106-107 15

St Anthony’s Medical Centre

67

First Citizens Investment Services

28

St Lucia Motor & General Insurance Co. Ltd

75

Goddard Catering Group

23

Total Health Care Phamacy

85

Grant Thornton

11

Tradevin Ltd St. Lucia

85

Hot Spots Auto Rental

93

Travel & Leisure Centre Inc.

62

The Trophy Centre

67

Wilrock Ltd.

57

Fast Cash St Lucia Ltd

J.E.Bergasse / Surepay

1

Royal Bank of Canada

19

Sagicor

87

United Shipping Insurance

89

Windward & Leeward Brewery Limited

81

Covers

Caribbean Metals Limited

55

DIGICEL

ISBC

Soufriere Estate

55

Harris Paints

OSBC

Epic Construction Inc

73

LIME

INFC

BusinessFocus Jun / Jul

|

108

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