Business View Caribbean | October 2020

51 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN OCTOBER 2020 THE FLOWERS GROUP While CL Flowers is no longer with us, his spirit lives on in this remarkable business. Sharing the family passion and drive is Dara Flowers – Clarence’s granddaughter and a third generation Director of the company. Mentored by her father (and company President), Frank, Dara is well versed in all aspects of the Group’s corporate divisions: Flowers Properties, Air Agencies, Flowers Bottled Water, Orchid Development, Flowers Air Dispatch Services (FADS), Flowers Aviation Security Services, and Flowers Block & Foam. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses everywhere have learned to adapt and the Flowers Group is no exception. As Dara reports, “It’s a very challenging time in terms of construction and renovations, but we’re certainly making it work. We’ve been very lucky here in Grand Cayman. After three months where everything was shut down, we reopened internally and business is picking up. Backlogged projects are coming down the pipeline and it’s surprisingly busy, right now. Construction is full speed ahead locally and we’re excited to be a major player in that.” Many big residential projects on the island were put on hold when COVID hit, and now progress has resumed on houses, condos, apartments, with some high-rise buildings possibly coming online in the near-term future. Dara admits, “Everyone is understandably concerned about the future but Cayman and the region has fared well over the pandemic and I think that will bode well for us in the years ahead. We’re hoping we’ll continue to see strong outside investment as a place that’s stable and safe.” Being a manufacturer of building materials, The Flowers Group has encountered some supply chain disruptions in terms of raw materials. But over years of preparing for major hurricanes, they’ve developed a contingency plan for inventory that has served them well. In that regard, the pandemic shutdown can be likened to weathering another storm because they had reserves in place, and when the time came, they were able to open back up quickly to meet customers’ demands. According to Frank, “We always try to keep a three-month cushion of stock, in case everything were to shut down. After Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, everything