Bahamas Striping, one of the successful Government of the Bahamas Self Starter award winners, is actively pursuing one of its strategic company goals, by training Bahamians in the specialized field of pavement marking.
Just over a year ago, 24 year old Atario Mitchell took his dream of owning his own business from an idea to reality. Key to his vision and as President of Bahamas Striping was to provide ongoing training and empowerment opportunities for his employees as one of the cornerstones of his business matrix and emerging corporate culture.
“In our analysis of the market, when we looked at the competition, we discovered that the foreign company Road Grip, who had done most of the work here in the Bahamas, had not trained a single Bahamian in the 10 years that it had been operating here,” said Mitchell. “We were appalled and saw this as a clear breach of our government’s Bahamianization policy as it relates to foreign companies doing business in our country. Road Grip having been doing business in the Bahamas for 10 years brought in skilled foreign technicians and never embraced the opportunity to transfer such skills to empower Bahamians. From my view, having made hundred of millions of dollars here, they have failed the Bahamians people as a responsible corporate citizen.”
This is why from the onset of Bahamas Striping I decided to implement our training policy that would allow for the empowerment of our 100% Bahamian staff. To ensure that we provide our employees the highest industry standards, we brought in a certified striping technician from the United Kingdom to help train our staff. As a result, Bahamas Striping and our staff are proficient and compliant to the high marking standards of the UK which are used on the roads in the Bahamas. Bahamas Striping’s Training Technician, Brian Bostock from Liverpool, holds a National Vocational Qualification Level 2 in road marking. His experience includes hot thermoplastic and traffic paint, and traffic management safety. We are pleased that my entire staff is being trained, equipped and empowered to such high international standards.
Romell Davis was employed by Bahamas Striping just before he turned 18 years of age. He began his training by learning how to mark and measure where the stripes would go on car parks and roads. On the Carl Treco development at Southwest Plaza, he proved himself as a conscientious worker, learning about how the thermoplastic applicator machine works and how to prepare the thermoplastic for commercial and industrial application. As a result of his training, he was given a first time on-site opportunity using thermoplastic to mark 13 of the 19 speed humps along Sandilands Road which he successfully completed. I am excited to see one of my youngest employees being empowered and excelling in an area that has been dominated by foreign workers for over a decade in our country. I am convinced that if we can afford young Bahamian men an opportunity to learn and become skilled in various vocational and technical fields, we will curb the social meltdown that we are seeing in our country today. Bahamas Striping is committed to doing our part and will continue to invest in the empowerment of our employees.
Romell’s next stage is training and developing skill in applying thermoplastic on roads. We are as proud of Romell training advances as we our all of our team members. Romell has as profound sense of pride that he as a young Bahamian was part of the team that recently marked the Lyford Cay School parking lot and the East Bay Street & Fox Hill Road Junction near St. Anne Church. In fact, he and the other employees as young as they are, see themselves as nation builders. As a young entrepreneur, I don’t just want to build a successful company; I want to build nation builders.
“This job has given me hope,” says Davis. “Before I came to Bahamas Striping, I was pretty much on my own. I didn’t know where I was going to get money to survive next week. The training has given me a skill that I am proud of and now I can see a brighter future for myself. Road marking is a rare skill in my country for us as Bahamians and I am motivated to making our company the biggest and the best.”
Mitchell says, “the staff will be trained to a level where they can hand mark and operate the machines on their own; in addition they are being trained in thermoplastic for roads and to operate the airless high-speed paint machine normally used for car parks. We’re also training them in the precise art of using hand molds on speed humps and arrows. With our training standing meeting and in some cases exceeding international standards, it eliminates the need for foreign companies having to be brought in, thus taking needed jobs away from Bahamians.” “I’m sure all Bahamians would agree that there is no longer any need for foreign companies to be brought in to do this kind of work that Bahamians not only can do but are qualified, equipped and are willing to do.”
“In the overall scheme of things, I see a need for young Bahamians to be provided opportunities to learn new skills and gain specific industry experience. As President of Bahamas Striping, I stand committed to not just providing jobs but to the training, inspiring and empowering of our nation’s youth. Social and economic empowerment is a way of getting them off the streets and to reducing crime,” says Mitchell. “This self starter company is giving our young people a second chance. At Bahamas Striping, we are proud of our record in impacting and empowering the lives of young Bahamians. One of our employees was in jail for something minor and could not get a job because of his record, we hired him. Another has a degree but he also couldn’t get a job because he was over qualified, we hired him. Bahamas Striping is providing hope through our training program.
We wish to thank the government and corporate Bahamas for continue to show confidence in our business and in helping us to grow. Our philosophy is to impact, inspire and empower young Bahamians for generations to come.
Noting that it was through the Self Starter program that Bahamas Striping got its start, I would like to encourage every young Bahamian that your dream is possible. To date, we are training seven staff and our Company is in preparation for involvement in the BahaMar Development, the Airport phase 2 and 3, the Chinese Airport Gateway, and the New Stadium projects,” says Mitchell. “With those multi-million dollar projects, we will show the Bahamas and our young people in general what a $5,000 start from the Self Starter program could do when you believe in your dreams and are willing to work hard.
I believe in hard work and I believe in ownership as Bahamians therefore I am encouraging all of my employees to sign up for the government home ownership program, buy their own land and put their home on it,” says Mitchell. “This is true empowerment that I believe will reshape our future and secure the Bahamas for generations to come.
