NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022 9 NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022 8 JAMAICA AT 60: MANCHESTER JAMAICA AT 60: MANCHESTER Keisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer SOME 80 years ago, it was discovered that the parish of Manchester was the site of one of the largest deposits of bauxite in Jamaica. This discovery led to the growth and development of Manchester’s bauxite and alumina industries, which facilitated the speedy development of the parish and Mandeville, in particular. Overnight, Manchester and, by extension, Mandeville, became a roistering boom town that began to grow and flourish and has continued to do so ever since. As a market centre for farmers, the town enjoys a relatively stable economic base and offers the pleasures of rural life with the conveniences of a mini-city. Its growth was spurred by the establishment of an alumina mining company, Alcan Bauxite, in partnership with the Jamaican government in 1957. High wages, housing, and other attractive benefits lured educated Jamaicans and returning residents to the peaceful and serene town. This environment was also ideal for young professionals and upper-income households. It was the executives of the Canadian-based Alcan company that saw the need to establish an entity that would serve the needs of thebusinesses in theparish and provide a platform for social interaction and networking among them. This initiative, led by Gia Arnold, became the Mandeville Chamber of Commerce. This organisation has grown and morphed into the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and operations manager at Blue Ember Concepts Limited, Simone SpenceJohnson, says the mandate of the organisation to assist and lobby for its members and business owners remains the same. “We are the voice of the business community in the parish. We represent our members on various stakeholder platforms, and we sit on most boards and address different issues relating to the business community in Manchester,” Spence-Johnson said. Businesses in the parish, she says, have been through different stages over the years and with bauxite no longer the mainstay of the parish, businesses have shifted to small and medium enterprises that are doing well. “Initially, there were not many small businesses that were a part of the chamber. But with the growth and development of the town, large enterprises and an ecosystemof entrepreneurs now make up the organisation,”Spence-Johnson said. The chamber, she says, strives to identify and serve the needs of all its members. The chamber, in its vision statement, has identified itself as an organisation that promotes and facilitates entrepreneurship through the development and growth of businesses, while improving the quality of life in the parish of Manchester. However, since theonset of the coronavirus pandemic, Spence-Johnsonsaysbusinesses intheparish havebeen throughmany changes, and thingshave quieteneddownabit.Thechamber, she says, isurging itsmembers tostayactiveandutilise its services. Meetings and consultations are held virtually, and members are still represented by the chamber. “We want to ensure that businesses in Manchester feel the impact and support of the chamber of commerce.We want business owners to know that they are a part of the chamber and they should feel supported and get the benefits of what we have to offer,” she said. With the continued development of businesses in the parish, the chamber president says there are areas of concern for members, including traffic congestion in major towns, the current location of the Mandeville market, and the slow pace of business transactions at some government offices, including Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ). “There are proposed plans to alleviate the traffic congestion, especially in Mandeville. Over the holiday period, changes were made and this helped businesses significantly. There is also a proposed plan for the market. If we can get that off the ground, it would help to solve many of the issues that we are having,”Spence-Johnson said. The chamber president also suggests the diversionof some services fromtheTAJ to thepost office, so that thewaitingperiod for these transactions can be minimised. “Some of the smaller transactions could be done at the post office. I don’t know all the intricacies, but it wouldmake it easier for us as business owners and the public in general to do business. It wouldn’t have to take us the entire day to renew, for example, our driver’s licence,”she said. keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com Manchester businesses have shifted to small/medium enterprises Simone Spence-Johnson (left), director of operations at Blue Ember Concepts Limited and president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, brainstorms ideas with Annette Salmon, founder of Made in Manchester. Simone Spence-Johnson (left), director of operations at Blue Ember Concepts Limited and president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce; Lyden D. ‘Trevor’ Heaven, owner/operator of Heaven’s FESCO’s DODO in Mandeville; Stafford Haughton, chief operating officer and chief pharmacist at Haughton’s Pharmacy – Mandeville; and Annette Salmon, founder of Made in Manchester, in discussion during a meeting. PHOTOS BY NATHANIEL STEWART/PHOTOGRAPHER Paul H. Williams/Gleaner Writer ONE OF the things Jamaica is known for is its coffee, whether it is grown in the Blue Mountains of Portland, St Thomas and St Andrew, or in other parts of the island. Its cultivation has been going on since the early 18th century, when it was introduced to the island in 1728 by the then governor of Jamaica, Sir Nicolas Lawes. It is said he brought over eight coffee seedlings from Martinique, and planted them on his own property at Temple Hall in St Andrew. Another man from Vere, now Clarendon, planted some too on his property, and in less than 10 years the local coffee industry was flourishing, as refugees fromHaiti were entering the island in droves. It was agreed that they could stay in return for sharing their knowledge of growing coffee in the Caribbean. The parish of Manchester, with its mountainous topography, and cool and clement weather, has been an integral player in Jamaica’s coffee story. It has one of the earlier parish industries in coffee. Mile Gully was an important coffee region. It was themelting pot of coffee production, themain economic activity in the region, and was once the residence of planters and settlers, who had acquired properties there. Several plantations for coffee production were established in the region. They include Ballynure, Devon, Evergreen, Green Hill, GreenVale, Grove Place, Inglewood, Lancaster, Maidstone, May Day and Mayfield. Things have changed over the years, but coffee is still a major crop in the parish, and so we turn to John O. Minott to see what is going on in the coffee industry inManchester. Minott is the general manager at Jamaica Standard Products (JSP) Company Limited. Headquartered at Williamsfield in the said parish, JSP is the owner of Baronhall Estate, Baronhall Farms, Island Blue Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, and Blue Baron Estate. Its Jamaica High Mountain Coffee is one of the oldest and largest coffee-roasting factories in Jamaica, and one of the most renowned coffee companies in the entire industry. JSP is certified by the government-owned Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica, and is regarded as the leader in the coffee industry of Jamaica. It has been owned and operated by the Minott family for over 80 years. It was founded in 1942, and its current managing director/chairman is John O. Minott Jr who has been working in the industry for 30 years. He is the third generation of Minott involved in the running of the company. It is the only HighMountain coffee producer in Jamaica, and supports farmers from all over the country who depend on JSP to buy their coffee. It is a major employer of labour. And when the hard work is done, the coffee is attractively packaged into its popular brands. The company predates Jamaica’s Independence by 20 years, and it has seen a continuous decline in the number of people who are interested in working in this labour-intensive industry. The number of people involved in the cultivation aspect is constantly dwindling. At 60 years of Independence, Jamaica’s coffee industry is not dead, nor is it moribund. Yet, it needs some caffeine to perk it up since it is rife with challenges, ones that need addressing if our well-known brands are to be competitive on the world market. “If you don’t have any potential for growth in an industry you are in, then what is going to happen?”Minott asked. According to Minott, the glory days when Jamaican coffee stood alone on top of the pedestal are long gone. There is legitimate competition from all-around. “Everyone wants a piece of the pie too, everybody stepping up their game, everybody has a good coffee now,” he remarked. The coffee industry in Manchester, as in the rest of the country, is under threat from climate change, cheaper coffee on the international market, and lack of interest from the youths in employment in the industry, high operational costs, and diseases. These are worrying signs said Minott, but “the pressing thing in Manchester is for people to come into production, people to work in coffee production’’, if the coffee industry there is to survive another 60 years. John O. Minott, general manager, Jamaica Standard Products Company Limited, gives the thumbs up as he explains production at the coffee factory in Williamsfield, Manchester. PHOTOS BY NATHANIEL STEWART/PHOTOGRAPHER John O. Minott, general manager, Jamaica Standard Products Company Limited, explains the earlier production of coffee at his factory in Williamsfield, Manchester. John O. Minott, general manager, Jamaica Standard Products Company Ltd, along with Abigail Campbell, quality assurance officer, explains the production of coffee at the Williamsfield factory in Manchester. jamaica at WANTED! More people in the coffee industry for the next 60 years
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