Saluting Mr Lowell Hawthorne, et al

Friday, December 02, 2011

IN many ways, Mr Lowell Hawthorne, the principal shareholder and executive chairman of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, is your average guy.

He's not a son of gentry, neither was he born into affluence. In fact, Mr Hawthorne admitted in an interview with the Business Observer that when he first went to the United States in 1981 his intention was to work for a year and return to Jamaica with enough money to buy a Coaster bus, popularly known then as a 'quarter million', the name coined on the streets of Kingston in reference to the cost of the vehicles at the time — $250,000.

Owning a Coaster, he said, "was the dream of everybody in the minibus business".

However, Mr Hawthorne shifted gear, and, by dint of hard work, determination and a fixity of purpose has managed to build an enterprise that now has 122 branches spread across nine states in America, employing 1,800 persons and which is grossing more than US$100 million in annual sales.

It stands to reason, therefore, that Golden Krust — even by the standards of the world's largest economy — is big business.

Based on that performance, Mr Hawthorne was, on Wednesday night, deservedly named the Jamaica Observer Business Leader for 2010.

While his achievements earned him the recognition, we cannot discount the accomplishments of Mr Hawthorne's fellow nominees — Mr Richard M Powell, co-founder and co-senior managing director of the Florida-based private equity company AP Capital Partners Inc; Mr Vincent HoSang and his wife Jeanette, founders and principals of the New York-based Royal Caribbean Bakery; Mr George Yap, founder and principal of Miami-based LEASA Industries; Ms Beverly Nichols, founder and principal of the New York-based Beverly's Home Health Care; Mr Marcus Simmonds and his wife Monique Hamaty-Simmonds, operators of the Miami-based Tortuga Imports; Ms Verona Greenland, founder and president of the New York-based Morris Heights Health Centre; and Mr Vincent Lai and his wife Lorain, founders and operators of the Toronto-based Nicey's Food Mart.

These enterprising Jamaicans, through the quality of their businesses, are demonstrating to the world the fact that this country possesses some of the finest minds and, indeed, talent for entrepreneurial excellence.

In fact, all the eight nominees, by virtue of being members of the Jamaican diaspora, are excellent examples of the 'Brand Jamaica' concept that, in recent years, has grown in significance across the world.

But equally impressive, and instructive, are the roles that these entrepreneurs are playing in Jamaica's development by purchasing agricultural products as input for their processing operations, employing Jamaicans living in their adoptive countries, and through their charitable works here.

A common and consistent theme among the eight business leaders is their passion to help Jamaica, especially the less fortunate among us.

For instance, Mr Hawthorne shared with us on Wednesday night, about his awarding of 50 scholarships so far this year to Jamaican students. We are also aware of his and his company's philanthropic deeds over many years in Jamaica, as well. The same goes for the other nominees who, commendably, have maintained their connections to Jamaica.

Interestingly, the eight nominees were among at least 60 Jamaican entrepreneurs who were identified by the search committee as having done well overseas. And we know there are many more.

Let's get into business with them.

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GCT to go down, white rum prices going up

Saluting Mr Lowell Hawthorne, et al