Charlestown, Nevis, August 25, 2010 (Press Release) - Manager at the Nevis branch of the Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Alexa Pemberton, is saying that the bank’s policy of investing in the Federation’s young people is paying dividends and is a boon to the economy even in times of recession.
Speaking after paying Parry’s Woodwork in Upper Hamilton a routine business visit, Pemberton reported how impressed she was with the developmental steps taken by one of their younger clients, 29-year-old Larinson Clifford Parry, whose business had grown considerably, a whole world of difference from the day he approached the bank for his first loan.
“Larinson Clifford Parry, also known as Buba, approached us several years ago as a young man of 23 years, and we decided that we were going to give him a loan to start his workshop,” said Pemberton. “He did so well that he came back (for another loan) and told us that he wanted to expand and get better equipment and we allowed him to do that.”
According to the Nevis branch manager of the Development Bank, they follow up all their clients to not only find out how they are doing, but also to advise them and in so doing they were quite impressed with Parry’s work and the way he repaid his loan, that at one time when the bank wanted some work done at the office, they hired his services.
She says that Parry is not one who sits on his laurels, because he expanded his business further to the level that he came for a third loan, which was approved without hesitation. To show support to their client, when it became apparent that the bank is soon to move from its current location in the heart of Charlestown to Stoney Grove, Parry’s services have been used to do more extensive work in the new building.
“We opted to work with Parry because of the fact that we have been quite impressed with what he has been doing,” said Pemberton. “As for his business expansion, I was quite surprised when I visited his workshop that he had done so much and he has improved on the workshop so much and had better equipment, even some equipment we did not give him money for.”
On the visit to Parry’s Woodwork site in Upper Hamilton, the Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis official was met by Schakima Parry, the workshop’s Administrative Assistant, who was at ease in reminding Alexa Pemberton that the business was started in 2002 by her brother Buba, who had initially worked as an apprentice with a reputable woodwork firm in Nevis.
Parry’s Woodwork is on the family land and the first workshop was just above the family house where after gaining the first loan from the Development Bank they started with fabricating business and specialised in building cupboards and putting them together, widows, doors, and closets aiming at low income houses that were being built in Nevis. However, when the company made a name for itself and started getting orders from bigger homes, it was time to move to a bigger workshop, and building started in December 2009 and work was in progress when Pemberton paid them a visit.
The company has grown and today it has six persons in fulltime employment. Parry’s Woodwork, using loans from the Development Bank, and also money generated by the business venture, invested in high-tech industrial machinery mostly imported from the USA which enables the workshop to produce items of high quality.
Larinson Clifford Parry said that he was greatly motivated by the Development Bank staff who would pay him visits and give him advice. He noted that at the age of 23 he got his first loan and bought tools that made things better and faster. With the second loan he bought a truck, while with the third loan he bought industrial machinery which has now put him on the cutting edge in the line of his work.
“If it were not for the Development Bank I would not have gotten these industrial machines,” said Parry. “My job is competitive and to maintain good clients you have to produce top of the line products and that would not be possible without the industrial machines that I bought. Some of my clients include the Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation, Nelson Springs, and regular house owners both in Nevis and St. Kitts.”
With the strides that Parry Woodwork has made, the Nevis branch manager of the Development Bank, Alexa Pemberton, is reminding other young people that there is so much that they could accomplish as long as they are focused in what they are doing and with the bank’s help, they can make things go according to their dreams.
“I know some young people would not have the finance to start with,” observed Pemberton. “If you have relatives that could help, you could talk to them. If not Development Bank encourages a lot of young people. We are right here to provide financing in any industry that any young person wants to go into.
“Once you are eighteen, we sit with you, we evaluate your proposals, the project that you want to work on and we help you to determine if it is viable or not. And once we are convinced that it is viable and that you would work honestly, and will repay the loan, we would work with you.”
