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our core products and services,” he begins. “That has been a challenge, but no more than what we are capable of.We’ve lost a couple of big customers, such as Shell and Total, who closed up shop here in the country– they had a global restructuring which caused some changes to our local market. Not losing a beat, we went looking for new clients and we continue to maintain some old, traditional ones.” One such client is the National Petroleum Com- pany which Quesnel says is likely to claim a greater portion of the oil market in Trinidad and the CARICOM region as a whole, now that Shell and Total have left. Resin Converters is on the verge of launching a new container shape for National Petroleum and says that “they’re very excited about it.” Quesnel also reports that his company has made the decision to further penetrate the food market, and that it is also looking at putting product in bottles for the export market. “One of the things that has hit Trinidad busi- ness very hard is the availability of foreign exchange,” he says, explaining the company’s desire to push exports. “We have failed to keep the value of our currency on a floating system– it doesn’t slide as the world’s currencies RESIN CONVERTERS LIMITED AT A GLANCE RESIN CONVERTERS LIMITED WHAT: A world-class manufacturer of plas- tic packaging products WHERE: Caroni, Trinidad WEBSITE: www.resinconverterstt.com I do feel, very strongly, that a recession is a time when you don’t curl up and lay low. It’s a time for you to dig in, explore new opportunities, and bring the company to better profit- ability. And if we continue to do what we’re doing, we should see a very good return on in- vestment. CHRIS QUESNEL, FOUNDER