Business View Caribbean | August 2019

55 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN AUGUST 2019 eye, better than a surveyor could.” Thanks to the recent number of large projects they’ve done, VI Paving has brought in the revenue to invest in improving their facility. Along with upgrades to the plant and equipment, they’ve also installed the certified lab on St. Croix. At the present time, they are able to make their own lab mix designs, and they do all their own lab testing – one of only two companies with those capabilities in the Virgin Islands. “Those labs have made a really positive impact to our operations,” says Daniel. “We’re at a stage where we’ve come off a real slow period in the past and now work is building back up and there are rumors of even more coming out. So, the idea is to stay on top and try to get as much work as we can. We’re definitely looking at St. Thomas and doing more research into design/builds. And the newest thing right now is getting more GPS-run equipment and machines designed to be much more accurate and efficient in the way they work.” The biggest companies VI Paving works with are the quarries, the asphalt suppliers – and they’re not local. Of the company’s most valuable partnerships and relationships over the years, the main ones are the family-owned businesses. “The ones I knew from school,” says Daniel, “those whose parents owned the company and now their children are taking over the business. They are the best ones for us, right now. Especially after the recent storms we all had to work together to get the island cleaned up and it was nice to have people you knew and could trust. They include shipping, fuel, construction, trucking, tire and mechanic companies – not the really big ones, but the ones we work with on a daily basis.” Looking five years ahead, VI Paving has some significant priorities and objectives in their sights for the future - most importantly, trying to grow large enough, as a company, to meet the demand that’s on its way. Daniel clarifies, “To make sure we don’t lose work because we’re not big enough to handle it. That would be one thing I would regret – not being able to take on the work. The shortage of skilled labor is an issue. One of our V I RGIN I SLANDS PAV ING, INC . SIGN C O M P A N Y @ Douglas LLC SIGNS • BANNERS ELECTRIC • CARVED WIDE FORMAT • TRUCK & BOAT T-SHIRT • LOGO ARTWORK 340-778-0078 | 340-244-3990 signs4croix@gmail.com royalbreedvi@hotmail.com *** ***