Nevisian trailblazer inspired by mother and propped up by Development Bank

CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (June 1, 2009) -- At age 19, Dale Claxton might have been the youngest registered entrepreneur on record in Nevis. Armed with little experience and a lot of enthusiasm to achieve in life, he bought a backhoe and set up a land clearing business.
 
Ten years down the road, the young entrepreneur from Stoney Grove in Nevis has expended his business several-fold and there is nothing in his path that could slowdown his knack for trailblazing, thanks to his mother and the Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis who have all the faith in his entrepreneurial skills.
 
His company, DC Equipment and Truck Services, is now a fully fledged outfit that employs three persons on a full time basis and two on contract. A far cry from the days he started off, with a single backhoe after having taken a loan from a local bank, Claxton has a fleet of equipment that makes him commercially competitive.
 
“My company specialises in land clearing, cutting, foundations, stonewalls, landscaping etc,” said Claxton in a recent interview at his home base in Stoney Grove. “We also provide rough and fine top soil for the garden and also offer container haulage and additional stuff.
 
“It was a bit frightening to have that size of loan to pay as a youngster, but through hard work and perseverance and the help of God and my mum Naomi Claxton, and all those close friends who stood by my side and the good customers I managed to deal with the first equipment and I started to build the business from there.”
 
His biggest break came after he approached the Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis when he contemplated buying a truck so as to diversify his business. After a few years and with reliable staff he bought a rubber-wheeled excavator also with a loan from the bank. Last year he expanded his business further with an even bigger excavator and truck to pull it on a trailer.
 
Dale Claxton attended the Charlestown Primary School and the Charlestown Secondary School. After school he briefly worked for a construction company and that is where he cultivated his love for land clearing and excavation business. With encouragement from his mother, he branched off to start his business. According to him, life would never be the same if the Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis did not come to his assistance.
 
“The Development Bank is a bank that you can count on and it is efficient and reliable and I would encourage any youngster who has an aim, some goal in life and they want to achieve it, to come the Development Bank first before any other institution because they really look out for the smaller man,” said Claxton.
 
The bank monitors the young entrepreneur to ensure that he is making the best of what he would have borrowed from the bank. Acting Manager at the Nevis branch office of the bank, Hyacinth Pemberton, said that their interest is to ensure that their customers succeed.
 
“Mr Claxton who has been doing business with the Bank for several years is one who is not afraid of risk-taking and is always willing to take the business to the next level,” said Pemberton. “He started out by purchasing a truck to establish a trucking service and later expanded to providing excavation services. He is serious and very committed to his business and this attributes to his continued success.”
 
Dale Claxton advises young persons in the Federation to engage themselves in meaningful activities as he argues that when they are idle it leads them (the youth) to gangs.
 
“For the young people out there, my advice to them is work hard, pursue your career and aim for the goals set,” advised Claxton. “The devil gets work for idle hands, leading them to gangs and bad stuff. They need to finish away with that nonsense because the gang thing is just killing out one another and I think that if those guys have a job it might help in stabilising our country.”
 
He advises the youth that when he first started he never envisaged that he would be moving at the speed he has moved at now. “I was just planning to get the backhoe and work it for a living, and probably get a second one to complement that, but with the Development Bank I have been given the urge and the drive and most importantly the encouragement for me to move ahead.”
 
He above all owes it to his mother Naomi Claxton who worked hard to ensure that her family got the best in life by making fudge and sweet cakes which she would sell. She also worked as a cleaner at one of the financial institutions in Charlestown.
 
“She is the one who really motivated me,” said Claxton. “When I told her what I wanted to do, she never discouraged me. Before I bought any equipment that I needed for my company, I would discuss it with her, show her the picture and if she doesn’t like it, I won’t touch it. But she mostly gave me her blessings.”