Minister for Grand Bahama, Dr. Michael Darville on August 29 told Bahamian businessman Robert Myers, that his Ministry is prepared to render whatever assistance it can to assure the success of his company in Freeport.
Mr. Darville was touring the Vtrade Company facility on Queen’s Highway, near the industrial sector. The building has some 86,000 square feet of warehouse space and sits on 20 acres of land. The firm is looking at expanding into the logistics and light manufacturing sector.
The Minister for Grand Bahama noted that many people passing the Vtrade building on Queen’s highway would get the impression that nothing is happening there.
“The reality is that this is a very vibrant company that is willing to expand in Grand Bahama and he (Myers) has spoken aggressively about logistics with this particular property and the fact that this property has 20 acres for expansion for similar operation of different products in this particular area, and he has expressed great interest in it.
“As you can see, he is not just talking it, he is actually doing it. He is a Bahamian entrepreneur who saw Grand Bahama as an opportunity. He came and he invested in Grand Bahama and the Ministry of Grand Bahama is willing to partner with Bahamians to try to find ways and means to get their products throughout the world.
“So he saw the opportunity with this deep water harbour and the fact that he can bring products from all over the world, that he can store in bulk here in Grand Bahama and begin to distribute throughout the world, so he is like the forefather in Grand Bahama for logistics, bringing products from around the world and distributing it from Grand Bahama.,” the Minister said.
The Minister added that he sees a lot of future growth for that type of development in the industrial park area.
He said Mr. Myers is committed to the project and has already spent a substantial amount of monies on it.
“There are challenges, but all of us need to come together on Grand Bahama to find ways how to deal with these challenges,” he stated.
The Minister was also pleased to hear of the company’s plans in the area of light manufacturing, pointing out that they have the warehouse space to do light manufacturing that is not so energy intensive.
“That is another opportunity we have in Grand Bahama for manufacturing with low cost of electricity. It is more labour intensive but ultimately the cost of power is definitely a hindrance in terms of us to go into full manufacturing until we are able to get the cost of electricity down.
The Minister said that Mr. Myers was looking at light manufacturing in building materials, and energy efficient lighting, that they plan to manufacture at the Queen’s Highway facility.
That move alone would allow for the hiring of 15 additional staff. The company hopes to sell that low energy efficient lighting throughout the Caribbean among other things.
Mr. Darville added that only recently the Minister for Financial Services and his team involved in trade and investment visited Grand Bahama, and they are now moving around the Caribbean as well as South and Central America meeting with potential business people who are interested in partnering with persons like Robert Myers, in terms of the expansion and utilisation of a logistics centre in Grand Bahama.
He informed that in another week they have a team going into Brasil to explore opportunities and investment potential there. He identified Brasil as being a large manufacturing nation.
“So we are looking to bring business into Grand Bahama and we are looking to partner with Bahamian entrepreneurs who are here for job creation.
“As I said before, Mr. Myers is already in the process of doing it and I commend him, that he is way ahead of the group and we are willing to do whatever we can from the Ministry for investment, trade and development, as well as the Ministry for Grand Bahama, to grow this type of investment in Grand Bahama.
The Minister pointed out that Mr. Myers’ firm is connected to the world-wide web and things can be distributed all around the world from his operational base in Grand Bahama.
“It is all happening because of the proximity of our deep water harbour. We are able to bring in products, store products, go online and distribute throughout the Caribbean right from here in Grand Bahama and be able to do it cost effective,” he stated.
The business has been operational for the past six months and has 12 employees. Currently they have in stock a wide variety of building supplies and house wares.
Mr. Myers informed that as far as logistics are concerned, they have some strong meetings coming up whereby they could be in a position to distribute “other people’s products using the same model. We provide their inventory control; we provide their shipping and logistics. They have the customer base so we are just moving their product and that is really what we call third party logistics.”
He also added that they will be in a position to sell that product locally at a good savings to local customers.
By SIMON LEWIS
Bahamas Information Services
Caption: VTRADE TOUR – Minister for Grand Bahama, Dr. Michael Darville, chats with Vtrade owner Robert Myers (centre) and Bradley Scott, Vtrade’s Director of Operations. Minister Darville toured the Grand Bahama based facility on August 29 and pledged his Ministry’s support for the project.
