To prepare for an expected $4.5 million demand for striping across the Bahamas in the next five years, leading road marking company Bahamas Striping has engaged this week five new trainees to start an intense training program at the Old Fort Bay Shopping Center.
The company also announced that, in eight weeks time, it will hire a further five staff.
Following a promise in August 2012 by Deputy Prime Minister “Brave” Davis that Bahamian striping companies would “soon get work on public roads”, Bahamas Striping is gearing up with a bigger team and more equipment to meet the expected multi-million dollar demand for imminent jobs in Nassau and the Family Islands.
On Sunday, the trainees received their first day’s training near Solomon’s Fresh Market at the Old Fort Bay Shopping Centre, a development now being finished by the country’s largest land developer, New Providence Development Company.
The crew of young men, aged 22 to 27, were excited to learn how to layout and stripe, not only the Old Fort car park, but also the service roads that comply to standards approved by the Ministry of Works for public roads. The new trainees learnt about parking bays, stop junctions, arrows, pedestrian crossings, handicap parking bays, give way signs and centerlines.
To be able to work on multiple projects at once, Bahamas Striping also invested $22,000 in a new Graco paint spray machine and a Graco asphalt scrabbler.
President of Bahamas Striping, Atario Mitchell attributed his two and a half year old company’s expansion to the government’s initiatives in investing in Bahamas. “It means everything to us to see their pro-Bahamian stance is bearing fruit,” said Mitchell. “With the government’s educational help, our long-term vision is to develop a robust Bahamian Striping industry with regular certified training at its core.”
Mitchell thanked the government and the New Providence Development Company for its ongoing support.
“We owe a lot to NPDC and particularly Marcus Grammatico. Back in 2010, when we were getting off the ground, Mr. Grammatico and NPDC saw our potential even though we were greenhorns. NPDC’s new office in Mount Pleasant was the first thermoplastic job we ever did. We’re happy to return here to complete their wonderful new shopping center. We’re grateful for NPDC and Mr. Grammatico to giving us young Bahamians a chance,” said Mitchell.
“Our new crop of young men forms the backbone of a new crew. And in eight weeks time we’ll see a new set of five trainees go through our intensive program. These individuals were recommended to us for their motivation and desire to work hard. None had full time employment and we want to give them a career path. We’ll need them for jobs we have coming up. It just shows that the government’s approach to focus on investing in Bahamians is not just talk—it is for real.”
The men described their excitement being part of the new team. D’Angelo Forbes from Davis Street in Oakes Field said he’s relieved and intends to give it his all. It’s his third day and already machined a centerline and helped hand-mold a zebra crossing and a directional arrow.
“This kind of work is perfect for young people in this country,” said Forbes. “It was a great relief to finally find a full time job. I was laid off from Atlantis in the downsizing. This took a load off my family. Now I have a future and something to build on,” said the 22-year old.
Deangelo Rolle is another Oakes Fielder and a 25-year old, self taught videographer who says he’ll use the new trade to increase his skill set. Now he’ll have more regular money coming in to help his family and establish himself. Rolle was impressed by when he learnt from president Mitchell and UK striping trainer, Brian Bostock. He was allowed to operate the striping machine on his second day.
“They go through in the striping process and make it easy to understand all the details. I’m looking forward to being with these guys a long, long time. From this I can own my own apartment.”
Rashad Thompson, also 22, formerly had a job off and on at a gas station. For the Government High School graduate, a full time career with a young start up company like Bahamas Striping is something to get excited about. The Seabreeze Estates resident sees a promising future and can now better provide for his upcoming family. He’s looking forward to striping in the Family Islands where he get to see more of his country.
Ashton Bullard, 26, was also downsized from Atlantis (back in 2004) and having done small jobs here and there, says it feels great to be stable again. He was amazed to learn how much effort went into marking car parks and roads. Since Sunday he’s learnt how to mark out arrows, a stop junction and how to chalk up a whole parking lot. Bullard’s dream is to one day operate the thermoplastic screed machine himself and have his own crew to supervise.
The fifth young man who won a position is Donavon Colebrook of Pinewood Estates. He was “scrapping around doing yard work” and small odd jobs where he could get them. This steady job is a foundation to start building a whole life, he says.
“I could do this for 20 or 30 years—the rest of my life. I like the outdoors, construction-type work. Sun and heat doesn’t mean anything to me; I’m built for it. I never realized how complex and in-depth this car park striping business is. Before my training, I thought you just went and slapped it down. But for a good job, it takes a whole lot of preparation and knowledge.”
UK Trainer Brian Bostock is very pleased with the attitude and the smarts of his new crew.
“We’re getting better at picking good lads,” the UK certified striping trainer said. “Training is what I was brought here to do, and this teaching is very enjoyable. They seem to love learning as much as possible. They’re really keen to get the knowledge and be useful,” said Bostock.
Bahamas Striping’s Managing Director, Sean Adderley, was pleased with how the training’s progress.
“These guys are learning quickly. Most have had a try on the thermoplastic handliner and they all done a hand-mold design. They’ve learnt how to layout most items on this car park site. The morale and spirit is definitely high. Now that the Ministry is confident with our skills and our service, we’re going to get a lot more work. This new crew, I can already see, is going to a much-needed and valuable asset,“ said Adderley.
“The $22,000 worth of machinery will be a great help to our productivity,” said Adderley. “Our new Graco scrabbler grinds away old or incorrect thermoplastic. That’s a new capability for us. Our brand new paint spray machine is the third in our stable. It enables us to service multiple paint projects at the same time.”
DPM Davis’ promise to wrench public road striping away from foreigners and hire Bahamians opens the door for striping company to expand its team.
To prepare for an expected $4.5 million demand for striping across the Bahamas in the next five years, leading road marking company Bahamas Striping has engaged this week five new trainees to start an intense training program at the Old Fort Bay Shopping Center.
The company also announced that, in eight weeks time, it will hire a further five staff.
Following a promise in August 2012 by Deputy Prime Minister “Brave” Davis that Bahamian striping companies would “soon get work on public roads”, Bahamas Striping is gearing up with a bigger team and more equipment to meet the expected multi-million dollar demand for imminent jobs in Nassau and the Family Islands.
On Sunday, the trainees received their first day’s training near Solomon’s Fresh Market at the Old Fort Bay Shopping Centre, a development now being finished by the country’s largest land developer, New Providence Development Company.
The crew of young men, aged 22 to 27, were excited to learn how to layout and stripe, not only the Old Fort car park, but also the service roads that comply to standards approved by the Ministry of Works for public roads. The new trainees learnt about parking bays, stop junctions, arrows, pedestrian crossings, handicap parking bays, give way signs and centerlines.
To be able to work on multiple projects at once, Bahamas Striping also invested $22,000 in a new Graco paint spray machine and a Graco asphalt scrabbler.
President of Bahamas Striping, Atario Mitchell attributed his two and a half year old company’s expansion to the government’s initiatives in investing in Bahamas. “It means everything to us to see their pro-Bahamian stance is bearing fruit,” said Mitchell. “With the government’s educational help, our long-term vision is to develop a robust Bahamian Striping industry with regular certified training at its core.”
Mitchell thanked the government and the New Providence Development Company for its ongoing support.
“We owe a lot to NPDC and particularly Marcus Grammatico. Back in 2010, when we were getting off the ground, Mr. Grammatico and NPDC saw our potential even though we were greenhorns. NPDC’s new office in Mount Pleasant was the first thermoplastic job we ever did. We’re happy to return here to complete their wonderful new shopping center. We’re grateful for NPDC and Mr. Grammatico to giving us young Bahamians a chance,” said Mitchell.
“Our new crop of young men forms the backbone of a new crew. And in eight weeks time we’ll see a new set of five trainees go through our intensive program. These individuals were recommended to us for their motivation and desire to work hard. None had full time employment and we want to give them a career path. We’ll need them for jobs we have coming up. It just shows that the government’s approach to focus on investing in Bahamians is not just talk—it is for real.”
The men described their excitement being part of the new team. D’Angelo Forbes from Davis Street in Oakes Field said he’s relieved and intends to give it his all. It’s his third day and already machined a centerline and helped hand-mold a zebra crossing and a directional arrow.
“This kind of work is perfect for young people in this country,” said Forbes. “It was a great relief to finally find a full time job. I was laid off from Atlantis in the downsizing. This took a load off my family. Now I have a future and something to build on,” said the 22-year old.
Deangelo Rolle is another Oakes Fielder and a 25-year old, self taught videographer who says he’ll use the new trade to increase his skill set. Now he’ll have more regular money coming in to help his family and establish himself. Rolle was impressed by when he learnt from president Mitchell and UK striping trainer, Brian Bostock. He was allowed to operate the striping machine on his second day.
“They go through in the striping process and make it easy to understand all the details. I’m looking forward to being with these guys a long, long time. From this I can own my own apartment.”
Rashad Thompson, also 22, formerly had a job off and on at a gas station. For the Government High School graduate, a full time career with a young start up company like Bahamas Striping is something to get excited about. The Seabreeze Estates resident sees a promising future and can now better provide for his upcoming family. He’s looking forward to striping in the Family Islands where he get to see more of his country.
Ashton Bullard, 26, was also downsized from Atlantis (back in 2004) and having done small jobs here and there, says it feels great to be stable again. He was amazed to learn how much effort went into marking car parks and roads. Since Sunday he’s learnt how to mark out arrows, a stop junction and how to chalk up a whole parking lot. Bullard’s dream is to one day operate the thermoplastic screed machine himself and have his own crew to supervise.
The fifth young man who won a position is Donavon Colebrook of Pinewood Estates. He was “scrapping around doing yard work” and small odd jobs where he could get them. This steady job is a foundation to start building a whole life, he says.
“I could do this for 20 or 30 years—the rest of my life. I like the outdoors, construction-type work. Sun and heat doesn’t mean anything to me; I’m built for it. I never realized how complex and in-depth this car park striping business is. Before my training, I thought you just went and slapped it down. But for a good job, it takes a whole lot of preparation and knowledge.”
UK Trainer Brian Bostock is very pleased with the attitude and the smarts of his new crew.
“We’re getting better at picking good lads,” the UK certified striping trainer said. “Training is what I was brought here to do, and this teaching is very enjoyable. They seem to love learning as much as possible. They’re really keen to get the knowledge and be useful,” said Bostock.
Bahamas Striping’s Managing Director, Sean Adderley, was pleased with how the training’s progress.
“These guys are learning quickly. Most have had a try on the thermoplastic handliner and they all done a hand-mold design. They’ve learnt how to layout most items on this car park site. The morale and spirit is definitely high. Now that the Ministry is confident with our skills and our service, we’re going to get a lot more work. This new crew, I can already see, is going to a much-needed and valuable asset,“ said Adderley.
“The $22,000 worth of machinery will be a great help to our productivity,” said Adderley. “Our new Graco scrabbler grinds away old or incorrect thermoplastic. That’s a new capability for us. Our brand new paint spray machine is the third in our stable. It enables us to service multiple paint projects at the same time.”