Lifespan Company Limited

L I FESPAN COMPANY L IMI TED were able to get start-up equipment from the U.S., which was the most basic, semi-automated equipment we could find. It took a year to get here. We registered in 2005 and were able to start trading in 2006.” Williams continues the Lifespan story, recounting, among other things, how she and Devon had to truck water to their first “factory” to bottle it: “We did extensive research on our own. The whole production element took us a while - to get the labor together, the source of bottles, and all that. But we were able to put the product together and we made our first batch. The next day we loaded it onto our pickup truck and went to East Portland, selling to all the little shops along the way. We sold ten cases that very first day, and from then on, we were in business. Within a year, we were able to purchase a truck and the business started increasing because we were able to carry more, and we were able to sign onto a major distributor.” As demand grew, the company outgrew its decade and a half is not only extremely pure, oxygenated, and bacteria-free, it is also highly alkalized. And high alkalinity is prized as a very important element in the areas of health, vitality, and taste, as they relate to the bottled water industry. Lifespan was founded in 2005 by Devon and Nayana Williams. They wanted to start a company that would have a product that is beneficial for consumers, while creating employment, and, if successful, make a good profit. Since Devon Williams’ family had been using Blue Mountain spring water for its personal use for many years, founding a water bottling company seemed to fulfill all the necessary criteria. But starting a business in Jamaica isn’t easy. The Williams struggled to get both financing and equipment. “We used our savings,” Managing Director, Nayana Williams recounts. “We sold what we could to raise whatever we could. We built a 1,200-square-foot building space. We Managing Director, Nayana Williams