Bahamas Striping, the grant-winning company from the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture’s Self Starter Program, is working on painting car parks and other facilities on the large Baha Mar development project. The contract was awarded to Bahamas Striping by local contractor Bahamas Hot Mix.
So far, Bahamas Striping’s portfolio of Baha Mar Commercial Center jobs includes Fidelity Bank, ScotiaBank, Commonwealth Bank, the Sheraton resort parking lot and the new Cable Beach Fire Station. The Baha Mar work is greatly adding to the company’s experience, according to Bahamas Striping President, Atario Mitchell.
“We’re thankful to Bahamas Hot Mix and Baha Mar for work on this great development. A high profile project like this only comes once in a generation, so we’re very proud that my young Self Starter company is allowed to be part of it,” said Mitchell.
“This experience is tremendously valuable to our young staff. They’re perfecting various skills all the time. And they’re making great progress on our off days when we go offsite to learn how to drive the machines. They can take skills with them into the future or anywhere in the world,” said Mitchell.
The young crew being trained under the guidance of Striping Trainer Brian Bostock from Liverpool in the UK. The crew are learning car park management, how to plan parking ahead of time, machine maintenance and how to layout car parks.
One of Bahamas Striping’s crew is 25-year old Triston Johnson, who recently graduated from the government’s National Job & Skills Training Initiative two-week orientation. The company is hoping to acquire more staff through the job initiative. Johnson said the government’s job initiative is “awesome.”
“The orientation really tells you how to conduct yourself and I learnt a lot,” said Johnson. “Now the training I’m getting on the Baha Mar projects with Bahamas Striping is setting me up for a great future. It’s not just a job – this is a true career. Besides the nice feeling of having some money in the bank, I’m planning to put a down payment on a home and buy a car.”
Bahamas Striping president Atario Mitchell is grateful to Bahamas Hot Mix and Baha Mar for giving 80 percent of the striping at the multi-billion dollar site to a new, young local company.
“That’s what we need right now in this country – for the profits to pass through the economy and to build this nation. That’s what Bah Mar and Hot Mix have given us,” said Mitchell.
“The Baha Mar work is a feather in our cap. Everyone is so pleased how the project is going. We see praise from the public along Cable Beach and in the newspapers almost every day about the traffic management and the progress,” said Mitchell. “The crew are excited to be working on it. They want to take great pride in their work and get it done right.”
Mitchell also praised the government’s National Job & Training Initiative. “For a relatively new company, it’s always tough to make a decent profit in the first few years. Training on days away from actual jobs sites is expensive. But we like to do it. So, this government job program is going to help us a lot. It means we can train new personnel even when we have no jobs – and they’ll be paid for it. With the program, training Triston only costs us time and materials. On rainy days, we can even give the crew hands-on office experience and administration. It’s a fantastic program and we are keen to get more young people on board,” says Mitchell.
Bahamas Striping’s work on Baha Mar started in August 2011 and continues for several years through the life of the development.
