- Rudolph BrownPartner in the joint venture operation of the Captain's Bakery and Grill in the Cayman Islands, Jeff Webb (left), shares a hearty laugh with the country's Leader of Government Business, McKeeva Bush (2nd left), and managing director of the Captain's Bakery, Captain Horace Burrell (right). Occasion was the official opening of the Captain's Bakery and Grill in Cayman on Thursday. With them is Central St. Mary Member of Parliament Horace Clarke, who represented Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
McPherse Thompson, Staff Reporter
THE ESTABLISHMENT of a branch of the Jamaican business, Captain's Bakery, in that country, has all the ingredients to make it a successful venture, says Leader of Government Business in the Cayman Islands, McKeeva Bush.
"This business has everything going for it to make it successful," Mr. Bush said, noting that "Cayman is a blend of cultures," and is largely populated by Jamaicans who have migrated there over the years in search of a better life.
Mr. Bush was speaking at the official opening of the US$3.3 million joint venture Captain's Bakery and Grill along the famous seven-mile beach in the Cayman Islands on Thursday. The venture is a partnership between president of the Jamaica Football Federation, Captain Horace Burrell and president of the Cayman Islands Football Association, Jeff Webb, and is located at the site formerly occupied by American-based fast food chain, Taco Bell.
Addressing a gathering of both Jamaicans and Caymanians, Mr. Bush, who is also Minister of Tourism, paid tribute to both Captain Burrell and Mr. Webb for their wisdom in making the business a reality.
Mr. Bush said it was his Govern-ment's policy to encourage investment as part of the mechanisms to ensure growth in the economy. "This is what will create jobs that will provide a wellness of life for those who work and live in this country," he said.
Former president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Howard Hamilton, who represented the JCC and the wider business community in Jamaica, said Captain Burrell, by establishing a branch of Captain's Bakery in the Cayman Islands, has demonstrated that companies should not just look to expanding within the confines of a single market, but to capitalise on the much wider consumer base.
He said it was Captain Burrell's entrepreneurial skills that have prompted him to expand into the Cayman Islands and it was the same resilience that was reflected in his plans to expand to Florida and the wider Caribbean at a later date.
Both Mr. Webb and Captain Burrell told of conceptualising the idea of opening a bakery in Cayman after meeting as strangers on a flight to Canada in the early 1990s and eventually becoming good friends.
The opening of the bakery was, for Captain Burrell, "a special day in my life. I have had a dream and that dream was to expand by business beyond the shores of Jamaica," he told the gathering. He said the first bakery was established in Jamaica 15 years ago.
Captain Burrell said the business, which will have a drive-through and restaurant, and which will be opened at least 30 minutes later than clubs and other eateries in the country, will provide employment for people irrespective of whether they are Caymanians, Jamaicans, Hond-urans, Fillipinos or from other ethnic backgrounds.
The function was attended by a wide aggregation of people representing both Jamaican and Caymanian business and government, including Member of Parliament for Central St. Mary, Horace Clarke, who represented Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
