JAMPRENEUR

HOW often do we find the names of a company and the principal aligning perfectly, and it’s all “just a coincidence?” Well, that’s the case with Chante’ Blackwood, who is the CEO of Chantier Construction Limited.

Chantier, it was quickly pointed out, is French — and not from her first name Chante — and roughly translates to ‘building site or worksite’ as in construction, the exact line of business Blackwood’s company operates in.

“We started off doing small renovations,” Blackwood told the Jamaica Observer. That was in March 2020, right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over time we’ve grown and are still growing,” she told Sunday Finance, adding, “our end goal or where I’m trying to get my company to is to focus on doing large-scale projects. So, eventually moving into doing developments and larger-scale projects, heavy construction,” she outlined.

Blackwood, a civil engineer by training with a major in construction, said she got into the business to capitalise on her skillset acquired at the University of Technology Jamaica. She also has a project management background and her associates have qualifications in general construction and architecture.

She said she got her first experience in the business during her stint as an intern at the National Works Agency, designing the retaining wall for part of the Gordon Town Road in St Andrew which was washed away by flood waters associated with Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

“I was an intern at the time and I designed the emergency project. So that was kind of like my big break,” the 28-year-old entrepreneur beamed. Blackwood turns 29 in November.

But what is the first project her company undertook?

“It was a bathroom renovation. I, you know, did the full renovation of the bathroom. Pulled it down from top to bottom and installed new vanities and shower and toilet,” she said.

But for her, it was a learning experience in running a business. The project itself “turned out to be pretty good” and the business grew from that one project back in 2020.

Blackwood said while she hadn’t taken on such a project before, it was good to see it unfold before her eyes. Her client was pleased, and so too was she.

But she admits she made mistakes.

“I overlooked some of the costs, for example: delivery of materials and stuff like that. So at the time, you know, you’re putting your cost for doing one delivery, but then you end up doing three deliveries that you didn’t bank on.”

That, she said, was an oversight which she has since learnt from. While she is the company executive and hires up to 12 people, it is not unusual for Blackwood to roll up her sleeves and lay blocks or render a wall with mortar. Videos on her social media pages attest to this. “I like being hands-on,” Blackwood said, flashing a smile.

She praises her staff liberally. “They’re really good at what they do,” she outlined.

The Chantier team, she said, is kept small “because while I want to grow my company, at the same time I don’t want to lose the quality that I do put out. So my main aim is to always deliver quality projects. So I feel like if I expand the team, some team members might not have the same skill set or keen eye for details, which will eventually affect the quality that you put out. So it’s something that I am considering whether I should just stick to the team that I have, so I can keep the quality work, or do I want to expand because the demand is coming in,” she reflected aloud.

That demand is a far cry from the one project per month Blackwood said her company was securing during the peak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Now Chantier Construction does up to four projects per month, keeping the staff busy to the point where the company has to be turning down jobs, hence her mulling about expanding the team.

“I’m fully booked for this month. So if it’s a case where people need projects for Christmas, ’cause everybody wants to fix up for Christmas, they need to reach out to me now.”

Currently, her company is doing projects on six construction sites.

We caught up with her last week at an apartment complex in Gordon Town, St Andrew.

“When my client had me come on board, it was to do the finishing aspects of the job. But there were little things that weren’t going according to how it should. So I had to be in there making corrections and stuff like that,” she said.

“So that project, it’s mostly finishing. Full tiling, full painting, installation of the kitchen cabinets, faucets, shower tiles, everything.”

Her company’s work speaks for itself. But Blackwood said, while boosting her earnings is always the aim, she is driven more by passion.

“I love what I do. So sometimes it’s not even about the money for me. I just like seeing my clients’ faces after I finish a project. That’s where my joy comes from. At the end of the day, I always make sure that my clients are satisfied. If they’re not satisfied, I’m not satisfied. And then I’ll go and just overthink the situation, and then I’m not settled. So my aim is to always make my clients happy and to give them what they ask for.”

Blackwood recently relaunched her company to celebrate the transition from it being a sole trader to a limited liability company.

“So it’s kind of like rebranding to push my company to be doing larger things by focusing on general construction, building services, household and commercial renovation and restorations, from the ground up.”

“I want Chantier to be a household name. That once you hear Chantier, you just know what I’m about and know what the company delivers. I always introduce my company as one of the leading construction companies in Jamaica, so eventually that’s the goal for me.”

As for Chantier, the immediate future looks bright. “Our growth has drawn the attention of investors,” Blackwood concluded.