FosRich Company Limited Lauded for Business Model

Electrical products distributor and pipe manufacturer FosRich Company Limited has been hailed by Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, for its progressive business model.

“FosRich has grown by leaps and bounds with new products, new locations, new partners, and an increase in employment from three employees. I have no hesitation in commending your business model of focused growth and expansion,” the Minister said.

He was speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony on November 16 for a major multistorey supercentre at 76 Molynes Road in Kingston, which will become the company’s new headquarters and allow for other important developments.

The business, which was established in 1993 by husband-and-wife duo Cecil and Marion Foster, had also recently completed its $200-million warehouse facility.

Senator Hill said the ceremony is “another clear indication that the Government of Jamaica has fiscal policies working for the business community”, noting that a recent business confidence report shows that business ratio has grown 18.3 per cent in Jamaica – the highest one-year growth in 20 years. Consumer confidence also grew by 4.2 per cent, said the Minister.

“If they (FosRich) didn’t believe that they could make money out of it (the supercentre) and that they could get their employees paid properly, then they would [not] build this,” Mr. Hill said.

He also congratulated the company for its export activities, reiterating the need for an export culture to be fostered in Jamaica.

FosRich’s new 143,000 square-foot supercentre, stemming from a deal with GraceKennedy Pension Fund, which owns the property on which the structure will be built, will include sustainable features such as an underground water tank and solar panels as well as barrier-free access.

In addition, there will be warehouses, a lighting superstore, administrative offices, a food court, a business process outsourcing (BPO) facility, a Wellness Centre and other rentable spaces. The superstore will also operate online, allowing customers to use their smartphones to select and pay for items and have them delivered immediately.

Chief Executive Officer, Cecil Foster, in his remarks, welcomed the opportunity to provide more jobs for Jamaicans, through the development.

“We are going to employ three times the number of persons that we presently have in Kingston, when this place is opened. The BPO… is [also] going to be employing a minimum of 1,000 people,” he noted.

For his part, Chairman, GraceKennedy Pension Fund, Hon. Douglas Orane, shared his delight at the prospects for the community, particularly for those areas near the development.

“What I see this project doing is to enhance and uplift the entire community around us and that’s so important. When this is completed, this whole area will be transformed and I see it as creating an upward virtual cycle of improvement in the quality of life in this area,” he said.

“People will be able to walk here to shop, walk here to eat, walk here to work… And so, it will change the whole dynamics of this neighborhood for the good,” Mr. Orane added.