Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor
Owners of the apartments will have a perfect view of the city on a clear day. - photo by Barbara Ellington
Geon Contractors and Associates Limited and 19 other companies around the world have something in common: They received the 19th International Construction award (New Millennium Award), on October 29, in Madrid, Spain. Reynold Scott, executive chairman of the Geon Group of Companies, accepted the award in recognition of his company's achievements in the field of construction over the past 27 years. Jamaica was the only country selected from this hemisphere. The ceremony took place at the Melia Castilla in the heart of Madrid's financial and economic district.
But a week later, Scott gathered together his staff and associates at a cocktail reception at his Kingston headquarters and presented the impressive award to them, saying: "This is possible because of your commitment, your dedication and more importantly, your heart. So, it is yours, and all this achievement is to the glory of God."
The award was created in Europe to reward firms worldwide that have distinguished themselves in construction and ancillary industries. Firms are selected by the organisers, so it came as a complete surprise to Scott who tells The Sunday Gleaner, "It means the world is watching us."
The presentation
"The letter notifying me of the win came in August and said in part, 'The award is granted by the Editorial Office in collaboration with the Trade Leaders Club (of 7,000 members from 120 countries), who have chosen Geon Contractors and Associates Ltd. as a winner of the award in this edition.'
"It was a surprise, but I give God the glory for it and all the credit to my staff and associates," Scott remarks.
Gathered in Madrid for the event were builders, contractors, civil engineering companies, manu-facturers and suppliers from different countries.
A major selection criterion is the innovation or the price-quality ratio of the products and services they offer. Scott said Madrid provided an excellent opportunity for all businessmen to establish new commercial and professional contacts, exchange experiences, to get to know new technologies, trends and markets, and to meet people from all continents.
Minutes before the symbolic presentation in Kingston two weeks ago, consulting engineers and staff stood one by one to heap
kudos on Scott and relate personal anecdotes of how their boss and mentor had positively impacted their lives. These included Madeline Andrews who began as a labourer and is now a sub contractor and Dalton Shand, deputy site manager who built the company's office building.
Geon has come a long way since their first development at Cricklewood -one-bedroom apartments on Shortwood Road, St. Andrew. Having studied business management at university, Scott worked in the corporate world before branching out into his life's work.
Since then Geon has earned a reputation for building some of the corporate area's most prestigious apartments, houses and townhouses with the mantra, "creating homes that families can enjoy." These include: Norbrook Spring, Great House Close, Silverwoods, Villas of Manor Park, Villas of Kimberly, Sharrow Estates, Cherry Hill and currently Casa Monte Estates set for completion next June. And watch out Mandeville, Geon will be building luxurious homes in the upscale community of Ingleside, as they venture out into rural Jamaica.
But this devout Christian is not about self praise. Question after question is greeted with a quiet request to focus on his staff. Among the close to 200 on the site at Casa Monte, Old Stony Hill Road, are three women. Last Wednesday's visit found the group pausing at noon to worship in their site ministry. A local religious radio station was celebrating a significant milestone and they visited the site to fellowship with everyone.
Current Project
Those familiar with Geon would, by now, have realised that Scott has a knack for acquiring prime properties for his projects. Casa Monte Estate is no exception. Located on 12 acres of lush hillside far away from the traffic of Old Stony Hill Road, the tour was made a little tricky underfoot because of the muddy surface left by recent rains.
The 21 four-bedroom houses (3200 sq,ft.) and 30 executive apartments (1700 sq. ft.) are taking shape as they caress the hills in a crescent shape that commands a panoramic view of the city below. From downtown's high rises to vistas beyond Portmore, future residents will wake up to pleasant perspectives enhanced by fresh mountain air.
Scott reveals that the process of getting all necessary permits took some 18 months but all the stones for foundations and perimeter fence walls came from rocks dug from the site. A relatively new feature in Geon homes is the lower floor basement from which owners can access the gardens and lawns outside. Other features include: laundry area, utilised walkways (instead of passages) linking upstairs bedrooms, living areas, breakfast room, patios, helpers' quarters and adequate parking. Communities are naturally gated. Prices range from $16 million for the two bedroom apartments to over $30 million for the houses.
Other luxuries include: units with their own back-up water supply, play area for children, lots of green areas, adequate cupboard space, no need for grill work upstairs and the kind of attention to detail that is evident in the work that only women can produce. The Sunday Gleaner spoke with Dionne Williams, Shernett Andrews and Madeline Andrews who have worked with Geon since 1993, 1983 and 1992 respectively.
Dionne is a steel fixer who gained valuable experience while she worked on the new United States embassy building for two years. But that was just a break for her. "I will not leave Mr. Scott, he's like a father to me, I can call on him when I am down," she said. She is proud of her abilities and is great at finishing walls; her bag of tools proves her prowess in her chosen field.
Shernett is expert at mixing mortar, and carpentry but she knows the trade from the days before machines made it easier. 'I know up to three ways to do one specific job, so if the machines break down, I have no trouble,' she said.
Madeline now supervises 12 persons on her unit and has moved up the ranks from labourer, to time keeper, to sub-contractor. These are industrious women who start their day at 8:00 a.m. and go on until 6:00 p.m. if and when necessary. Scott is proud of their meticulous approach to the tasks. "Sometimes I will stop by late in the evening and hear a sound inside only to check and see Madeline inside a unit doing a detailed inspection of the work," he says.
But for Madeline the most challenging part of her work is getting started at the foundation and making sure all the measurements are correct. The easiest part is doing the granite (smoothing the walls) and what she enjoys most is handing over the keys at the end of a project and remembering the process from start to a beautiful house.
"For my own house, even if it's one room I want to do it all myself, I want to do the tiles on the floor everything," Shernett added.
Scott is reflective. From buying the land, engineering, designing, building, landscaping and marketing, Geon has done it all for clients in over 30 developments.
He echoes Madeline's sentiments, "For Geon, it's seeing families with children moving in and occupying the houses and fulfilling our mission of creating homes that people enjoy."
