Issa Construction

11 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 Peter Issa: In our experience, there have been more price increases than supply delays. While we had some shipping delays with supplies imported from China, we buy most supplies locally, and we’ve not experienced any delays or supply chain challenges. Business View Magazine: Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, what is your top priority? Peter Issa: Our top priority is continuing to giveback to Jamaica through growth, development, and employment. This includes providing more commercial square footage for companies coming to Jamaica and existing companies expanding. We work with our primary franchiser, Coldwell Banker, to provide real estate offerings from warehouse to retail space to office space. Our bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, is also a key partner in this respect, and we have banked with them for many years and enjoyed their full support on all our projects. Business View Magazine: Before we wrap up the interview, what drives you in your business? It’s very competitive. What motivates you most? Peter Issa: We provide Jamaicans with jobs, from painters to laborers to truck drivers to machine operators. What gets me up in the morning is the ability to employ hundreds of people and give them the opportunity for a better life. We’ve helped many people purchase their first car and assisted countless employee’s send their children to school. At the end of the day, our goal is to employ as many Jamaicans as possible. Construction is one of the most challenging industries due to its high stress. However, at the end of the work week, I see how these jobs transform their lives while having a drink with the workers and talking to them. That keeps me going. The other thing that motivates me is to see the product from start to finish. You visit a site when an excavator is digging, and then eight months later, you meet with the owner in a boardroom in the building we built. Knowing that you’ve created something larger than yourself is an amazing feeling. Building the Jamaican economy also motivates me. We’ve brought over a thousand employment opportunities to downtown Kingston since 2015. These employment opportunities create a ripple effect, bringing families and new businesses Downtown, which in turn opens of more employment opportunities. The presence of more people Downtown also results in more patronage of existing businesses. PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Creative Building Finishes www.creativebuildingfinishes.com Creative Building Finishes Limited for the past 22 years has been established as Jamaica’s premier provider of first quality tiles and countertop slabs. We are your tile experts for residential and commercial renovations and design projects. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team will provide you, our customers, with a comfortable, hassle-free shopping experience, for which we’ve earned the reputation for creating our customers’ visions into reality!