Davis at Machine - Bahamas Striping’s youngest employee, 18 year old Romell Davis is on track to become a junior supervisor. He proved he can stripe without supervision.
|
Nassau, Bahamas - As the sun set last Friday evening, two young striping
apprentices prepared for a different sort of happy hour. With five months of training under their
belts, they were eager to get to laying the lines and arrows on a 58 bay
parking lot, for the first time entirely on their own.
“I’ve been observing, watching, practicing, asking
questions,” 18 year-old Romell Davis, one of the stripers said ahead of the
task. “Now I have the chance to do this
striping myself. It’s a big
opportunity.”
Davis has only been with the company, Bahamas
Striping, since mid-2011. But he is one
of its youngest employees and has distinguished himself and earned the
confidence of his seniors to stripe the parking lot of the new executive offices
of Bahamas Supermarkets Limited (BSL) on JFK Drive near Bethel Avenue, along
with his colleague, 23 year old Tristan Johnson.
It’s one of those jobs where the quality of the work
is put on display, like writing a letter that everyone’s going to see—with an
ink pen. Sure, you can ‘liquid paper’
over errors, but the cover-ups are evident and don’t leave the best impression.
Bahamas Striping trainer Brian Bostock explained it
takes a lot of confidence to lay those lines, and employees understand that getting
them right is a quality issue the company takes seriously. But as the young Bahamian apprentices are
confident, so are their instructors.
“They’re ready,” Bostock said. “They’ve been asking all the right questions,
which shows that they’re keen. They’ve
had a lot of practice, and the confidence is starting to build.”
Bostock was brought in specifically to train young
Bahamians to the highest international road striping practices and standards,
company president Atario Mitchell explained.
He was pleased to see two employees reached the point where they could
handle jobs without his or Bostock’s supervision.
“It shows they could leave here today and do this on
their own,” said Mitchell, adding with a smile, “but I wouldn’t advise that
though.”
Rather than looking at the development of his fellow
Bahamians as a threat to his business, the well-known young entrepreneur who
started his business with a $5,000 government grant through the Self-Starter
program sees their progress as integral to the growth of his company. With plans to be able to service multiple
contracts throughout The Bahamas simultaneously, the leverage brought by having
qualified supervisors capable of managing different worksites becomes essential.
Bahamas Striping -
The Bahamas Striping team recently completed the executive parking lot for Bahamas Supermarkets Limited near the JFK roundabout.
|
It’s also a part of Mitchell’s greater vision to see
the striping business in The Bahamas led by Bahamians.
“Why shouldn’t Bahamians who have proven they are
capable and up to the highest standards run this segment of the construction
industry?” Mitchell said. “Considering
the high unemployment and all the talk about empowering Bahamians, I think it’s
really sad that foreign companies are still allowed to come in here and take
these jobs and not even leave a single skilled Bahamian behind—keeping us
ignorant so they can get all the contracts.
That just doesn’t make any sense, and I believe many, many Bahamians
would agree with me on that.”
BSL director Nikki Finlayson-Boeuf may have a similar
sentiment. According to her, the fact
that Bahamas Striping is a Bahamian company employing young Bahamians was a
factor in the decision to give them the contract for the executive parking lot
to them. Mitchell’s tenacity and a very
competitive price quote were important factors too, she said.
“I
see myself as a trailblazer, starting a trend whereby Bahamians could control
this section of the business,” Mitchell said.
“Whether Bahamas Striping is successful or not, I know I’m leaving
behind local people who are capable of doing the work. That’s what Bahamas Striping is all about.”
Of the two young stripers, Johnson has more experience
in the construction industry, and said he jumped on the opportunity to add
striping to the trades he’s already proficient in. After hearing Mitchell’s ‘dream and vision’
for striping in The Bahamas, he was eager to satisfy his curiosity about the
road-striping process.
Friday evening brought the chance to show what he’s
learned.
“This is the first one they allowed us to do all on
our own. If feels wonderful and it’s a
chance to show the boss the company is really teaching us to do the work, I
haven’t been just coming here and taking money.
“After this, they’ll know they can focus on other
things and just let me do the work.”
At a time when many of their peers are not employed,
Davis said he was glad for his success of Bahamas Striping, and the fact that
the job was not only “putting money in my pocket,” but imparting skills he’ll
take with him the rest of his life.
“I’m young and it sends a message to every young guy
out there. I can do it—go out there and
make something out of my life instead of doing nothing all day. I’d still be out there hoping for the little
odd job, instead of preparing to be a supervisor if it wasn’t’ for Bahamas
Striping.”