Joe Issa Left Huge Void in Chamber for Successor to Fill The last thing you will find many people doing is working for free and they will not be caught giving anything away. Such people will occupy positions in society but will leave no memorable marks when they depart, and they are often forgotten as quickly as they were known. One exception to the general rule that people are not normally selfless and committed to making a difference in the lives of communities at both the business and social levels, is Ocho Rios businessman Joe Issa. Issa rose to prominence when he created academic history at university abroad, carved an impressive career and began establishing charities to help fund a bookbuying programme for under-privileged Jamaican school children. His popularity soared when he established his own business, became more involved in sponsoring community sports and founded more charities to provide a wider variety of assistance to school children and their classrooms. With all his business innovations and charitable initiatives, Issa was elected unopposed to the presidency of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, which advocates for the business and social interests of the parish. When, two years later he decided not to seek another term he left a huge void for his successor to fill. The influential body routinely meets with businesses in the parish to discuss issues affecting them and to find solutions. Issa was said to be good at that; he was always anticipated and welcomed and his views highly accepted and favored.
The islands 13 chambers of commerce also take collective positions on issues of national interest and it is at this level that Issa would play his most critical and memorable role by representing the body in a dispute with the government. As a qualified national mediator with more hours of training under his belt than is required, Issa has been successful in previous mediating roles, such as in the disputes between taxi drivers and coaster buses, hotels and craft vendors, as well as between the island’s major cruise ship ports. With all this experience, Issa successfully averted a faceoff between the government and the islands chambers of commerce, which had threatened to march to the House of Parliament if it refuses to roll back the tax on streetlights that businesses would have to pay.