Diversifying during COVID-19
that did the buildout for the Granville housing scheme in Trelawny recently. We also have worked for the National Works Agency,” he said.
“[We’re] seeing an uptick [in this aspect of the business] and in fact nationally, construction has been doing well. The only regret is that the Chinese has the major contracts so some of us can only do subcontracting work. Right now we have five projects on the ground as we speak, three in St Thomas, one in Kingston and one in Manchester, so we’re holding our own where that is concerned,” Williams informed.
With janitorial and sanitation and construction already successfully under its belt, the president indicated that garment manufacturing was born out of a need.
“The need to provide uniforms for our staff is what lead us to garment manufacturing.
We started with four machines and three ladies; now we have a suite of machines and a much larger staff but now we have the problem of finding the time to produce our own. It has grown significantly in the last four years to the extent that we are now exporting. We have been able to forge those links and we see significant growth where that is concerned,” he stated. Jacden exports to Grenada, Antigua and to the US. In addition, it also makes school wear for schools in Jamaica such as Wolmer’s, Mannings, Camperdown High, and sportswear for GC Foster College.
The company also does screen printing and logo stitching. Looking ahead, Williams said that while the medical/pharmaceutical aspect of Jacden is fairly new, the company already has another project underway.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with an Indian pharmaceutical company, Belinda Laboratories, and we will be distributing a range of pharmaceutical supplies, initially in Jamaica, but with a regional outlook. We are currently registering the products with the relevant statutory authorities and that is something that we are excited about for the future,” he said.
“We know that this is going to be a game changer. Pharmaceutical products are expensive but with our association with the hospitals we became acutely aware of the problems that people were having in purchasing the relevant drugs that they need. The Government has done a good job in respect to the National Health Fund but that in itself does not cover everything, and we are positioning ourselves to come into the market to respond to that need for good, efficacious and cost-effective products,” he continued.
To this end, Jacden has also recently acquired the building next to its 18 3/4 Lyndhurst Road location to house this new aspect of the company.
“We’re also looking at the possibility of having a small medical dialysis centre, and we’re exploring that very avidly right now. That in itself is a great need and we find that with the sort of links that we’re able to make, we’re in a position to offer that service,” Williams said.