Here's good news

Webster Edwards

IT IS so easy for one to become cynical at the future prospects of this country, especially when one is confronted with the all too frequent business closures and the unemployment problem which has become structural. The cynicism is further reinforced by the upsurge of criminality and the continued misanthropy parading as in-formed comment which bombard our air waves with each passing day. But we should not be disheartened; there are some good things happening right before our eyes.

Contrary to popular opinion, there are many commendable business ventures now operating in the country. There are also innumerable business opportunities just waiting to be creatively tapped. Yes, possibilities can be realised within this country even within a context of hardship, once there is vision, commitment and a desire to work purposefully towards an identifiable goal.

One business establishment which has taken a gargantuan leap into the future is Jencare Skin Farm which was started some 17 years ago by Lloyd and Jennifer Samuda basically as a hobby in a room in their Queensbury residence. Today, Jencare has expanded beyond the shores of this country. The achievement of this company has confounded the critics, who pointed to the incongruity be-tween black ethnicity and successful entrepreneurship, or to put it in understandable colloquial lingo "that black man really can't run things". The success is even more laudable when it is accomplished overseas.

But armed with an intuitive business acumen, vision and the capacity for hard work, the Samudas have astonished even their most ardent supporters who believed that the dream was too ambitious, that the existing business environment was too hostile and that acquiring the required capital would have proven to be a total nightmare. They did not sit back waiting on a favourable business climate or bemoaned the fact that governmental assistance was not readily available.

Today, Jencare Skin Farm is one of the leading beauty care establishments in the Caribbean with branches in Port of Spain, Miami and New York. Last weekend I was privileged to join eleven other persons on a journey to New York City to participate in the grand opening of the latest state-of-the-art centre at the upscale Green Acres Mall in Queens.

And what a boost the launching of this business was to Jamaican nationalism and entrepreneurship, as hundreds of New Yorkers beamed with pride and a sense of achievement on seeing what could be described as the best of Jamaica on show. They were generous in their comments at the quality of the service offered and the standard of the products exhibited. And what a significant antidote it was to the messages of crime and violence and the wave of negativity which has bedevilled us as a country.

Now Jencare is all set to go global, offering a unique high-quality service competitively priced with a Jamaican flavour. They are again confounding the critics who believe that Jamaican business people lack a competitive edge, that we are a nation of samples with a "soon come" mentality. Speak to Lloyd and Jennifer Samuda and one will hear them bubbling over with enthusiasm, with ideas on new challenges to be accomplished, of the possibilities of large-scale employment creation, especially among poor unemployed young women from the Kingston inner-city.

So far this firm has received a number of local and international awards including the prestigious European Award for Quality which was presented to them in 1999, becoming one of only three Jamaican businesses to have received this coveted award for excellence. The lesson is that Jamaica is abuzz with opportunities if we can only look beyond our immediate circumstances, try to identify a niche on which to focus. It was Jimmy Cliff who penned the lyrics "You can get it if you really want it... you must try, you'll succeed at last".

Dr. Webster Edwards works in the inner city and is Executive Director of Operation Friendship.