Jobs high on Graham’s to-do list.
HAILING FROM the tough, sometimes volatile 100 Lane off Red Hills Road in St Andrew, Hugh Graham says young people in St Catherine North West are interested in how he has managed to surmount the many challenges to become a respected businessman.
As a mentor and business coach, Graham says he has given much of his time to providing guidance to young people who have expressed the desire to pursue entrepreneurship.
“No matter where in the constituency I meet them, whether it is in Lluidas Vale or in Linstead, I get the same reception.
“People are interested in me. They want to know what I have to say, and they want the support to move their lives forward,” he told The Gleaner.
Graham cites unemployment as the biggest problem in the constituency, a concern that is a refrain on street corners across Jamaica despite record-low jobless numbers. He said that he has been supporting the youth in pursuing their goals, including establishing their own businesses.
“My job is to show people that you can be an employer of labour. You don’t only have to stop at being an employee.
“That is one big thing I believe I can bring, and that is what I have been doing,” he said.
A businessman for 30 years, Graham is the chief executive officer of Paramount Trading Jamaica, a company that provides cleaning and sanitisation services to large private companies and the public sector.
With more than 100 persons in his employ, Graham said he knows what it means to meet a payroll.
“I don’t have the luxury of talking without action,” he said. A three-term councillor for the Lluidas Vale division, Graham said that his track record of performance speaks for itself and has earned his re-election.
The businessman and politician says that he has crafted a constituency development plan from 2016 that covers the four divisions in St Catherine North West.
Graham said that the political leadership of the divisions have developed a plan.
“The plan was also promulgated into the communities, where you have stakeholders such as the Social Development Commission and the farmers’ groups participating in the discussions,” said the councillor.