Business View Caribbean Dec. 2018 / Jan. 2019

58 59 in the Caribbean and howWilrock is positioning itself for the future. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. BVM: How long has your family been in the quarry business in St. Lucia? Wilson: “The land was originally owned by my grandfather, who passed it on to my father, who then passed it on to us. So, it’s been in the family for three generations. Around 1992, I decided to proceed with the quarry busi- ness because there was an emerging opportuni- ty in the Caribbean. From the onset, Wilrock was designed to export to markets outside St. Lucia because we are located in a very quiet part of the island with little economic activity. “We work with barging companies for exports. We mine and process in the quarry and then transport to a port facility we operate in the nearby town of Vieux Fort.We mainly export to Trinidad &Tobago and Guyana, but we have shipped to many other countries–St.Vin- cent, Grenada, Barbados, as far as Montserrat and the U.S.Virgin Islands.We’re like a buffer.Whenever the demand outweighs the supply for individual countries, that’s where we come in– to complement the moments when the other countries cannot supply a qualityma- URBANWILSON MANAGING DIRECTOR GILBERT WILSON OPERATION DIRECTOR WILROCK LIMITED terial for their work. For example,Trinidad does not have a quality aggregate, and Guyana has quality aggregate but insufficient supply. “Our big selling point is our quality.We mine basalt rock and we produce anything from zero millimeters to 15 unit tons. One of our main sellers is armor rock, which is used for coastal protection and sea defense. It’s a strong area for us in terms of competitive advantage over any quarry in the region.We have that strength, so we can proudly say we are the best in the Carib- bean when it comes to armor sea defense.” BVM: What products and custom solutions do you offer customers? Wilson: We own about 50 acres of rock, rising to 150 meters above seal level. It’s a very dense and hard rock, so it involves drilling and blast- ing, which we do as we get market opportuni- ties. Our business includes one mining site and two locations where we sell product. Along with the quarry, we have a manufacturing process where the rock (the raw material) is converted to various sizes.We process crushed aggregate for road construction and concrete, and armor stone for coastal protection, but we can pro- duce any aggregate required in the construction industry. That’s another of our strengths. Includ- ed in our business, we also do concrete, and we own and operate a block-making facility. “Many times, especially for the export market, when the difficulties arise in their respective countries, they come to us.We are the ones that generally come in to intervene and ensure delivery of projects from time to time. It’s not rocket science, but it is a science, that construc- tion companies have to comply with certain project specifications. So, we come in when the Loading boulders onto barge for export