Rosscon Limited

Three Decades of Caribbean Construction Excellence

From Humble Roofing Beginnings to Regional Steel Fabrication Leader, This Construction Journey Reveals the Power of Local Relationships and Quality Service in Building Lasting Business Success.

In Trinidad and Tobago’s competitive steel fabrication market, which includes established players with decades of experience, Rosscon Limited distinguishes itself as one of the leading specialists after three decades of strategic evolution. The company operates from a 47,000 square foot facility in Frederick Settlement.

“The company was formed by my father and his brother, Steven and Ian Rothstein, and they started as a very small construction company doing mainly paving works and small contracts,” Michael Rostant explains. The transition from general contracting required careful market positioning as the brothers identified roofing as their initial specialization. “Eventually they moved into the roofing side of things and grew from maybe doing one home roof to commercial roofing, establishing roofing in Trinidad.”

The steel fabrication pivot occurred after 10 to 15 years, coinciding with increased demand for industrial structures across the Caribbean region. “They graduated into more construction type things and became very focused on the steel fabrication side of construction,” Rostant notes. Geographic relocation accompanied this strategic shift, with the company moving from San Fernando to a more central island location. “They were amazingly known for a lot of steel structures and eventually phased out of the roofing aspect of business.” Today’s facility houses automated cutting, welding, and drilling equipment alongside technical staff capable of producing detailed fabrication drawings using AutoCAD and Tekla software.

Building a Caribbean Presence

Michael Rostant’s return from a decade abroad eight years ago coincided with accelerating regional tourism growth, as the 2024/2025 Caribbean tourist season achieved record-breaking visitor numbers. The company’s current geographic footprint spans multiple islands within a construction market where timber demand alone has surged 50% due to infrastructure development pressures.

“Since I moved back, we’ve been growing very strong locally. We still have a presence on the islands. We’re working a lot in Grenada, St. Martin, St. Kitts right now,” Rostant says. Financial flexibility distinguishes Rosscon from competitors focused on specific project scales, allowing the company to maintain steady workflow during market fluctuations. “We would do projects from $20,000 US dollars. We would also take on upwards of $10 million US. We have a very wide scale of the size of projects that we would take.”

The 2017-2018 government contract represented a watershed moment for demonstrating large-scale capabilities. “We did one of our largest projects for the government of Trinidad where we did an entire state in Maruba Trinidad, which was an agricultural facility with five warehouses from foundation to finish,” Rostant explains. Steel construction competes with concrete methods across roughly half of Trinidad’s commercial market, with speed and cost-effectiveness driving client decisions.

Commercial specialization reflects deliberate market positioning rather than organic evolution. “We are definitely more commercial-based construction companies. Not very much into residential at all,” Rostant notes. The strategic focus on warehouses, apartment complexes, and industrial facilities aligns with regional economic development patterns. “We do prefer it construction-wise. It’s faster and very comparable in price. Obviously we think it’s the better route.”

Local Networks and Labor Retention

Steel import timelines of three to four months create fundamental logistical constraints for Caribbean construction companies, making domestic supplier relationships essential for project continuity. Rosscon’s supply chain strategy addresses these geographic realities through partnerships with established Trinidad hardware distributors who maintain substantial local inventory.

“Our daily operation is run by 90% local suppliers, from small tools to concrete suppliers, basically everything from local suppliers here,” Rostant explains. Key partnerships include relationships with Bhagwansingh’s Hardware, Point Lisas Hardware, and Union Steel and Hardware, representing the island’s primary steel distribution network. “We call those suppliers on a daily basis,” he adds, highlighting the frequency required to maintain adequate material flow.

Research suggests shortage of experienced labor is the third-highest factor affecting construction productivity in Trinidad and Tobago, with the country’s oil and gas boom intensifying competition for skilled workers across all construction trades. Industry studies reveal that lack of labor supervision and unrealistic scheduling expectations compound workforce challenges throughout the region.

“Our workforce is 100% local. We’re a small family-based company and we have several employees that have been working upward of 20 years with the company, even some more from inception,” Rostant says. Employee longevity provides operational stability in a market where skilled worker mobility threatens project continuity for many competitors. “We’re family-based and very family-oriented. A lot of people come to work with us and stay. We think that’s very important, keeping good people and keeping them close to us.”

Customer Service as Competitive Advantage

Trinidad’s compact geography creates unique business dynamics where personal relationships often supersede formal procurement processes, particularly within the construction sector where project complexity demands high trust levels. Customer service frequently receives secondary priority to technical execution across Caribbean construction companies, creating differentiation opportunities for relationship-focused firms.

“We do try to project that same model onto our customers. I think a lot of our work is to return customers,” Rostant explains. Small island market dynamics intensify the importance of reputation management, as negative experiences can rapidly impact future business opportunities. “We work on an island. It’s small, everybody knows each other, and we try to give our customers that feeling that we are family to them.”

Direct executive accessibility contrasts sharply with larger construction firms where clients typically face multiple management layers to reach decision-makers. “When they call the company, they call me on a daily basis. The owners are running the company and they feel like they can get that family, an important personal touch every time,” Rostant says. This communication model eliminates bureaucratic delays that often frustrate clients working with corporate construction companies.

“Customer service sometimes may be overlooked in the construction industry. But I believe that our projection of trying to really be a step above any customer service in this industry has really proved to be very helpful to us,” Rostant notes. “It shows that our customers keep coming back and keep building with us. We like to be that go-to company for them, easy and stress-free.”

Design-Build Capabilities

Design-build project delivery methods have gained prominence across Caribbean construction markets as clients seek to streamline coordination and reduce management complexity inherent in multi-vendor approaches. Rosscon’s in-house engineering capabilities utilizing AutoCAD and Tekla software enable single-source accountability from initial concept through final delivery, addressing a key pain point for commercial clients managing complex projects.

“We do a lot of design-build work in-house. We have our engineering team and our drafting team that can start a project from a basic idea or maybe a little hand sketch,” Rostant explains. Technical advisory services include structural optimization recommendations that can significantly impact project economics. “We do work closely with them to come up with these designs and maybe give them advice on the best, most economical way to do structures that they may not be familiar with.”

Government tender requirements often demand comprehensive engineering teams spanning multiple disciplines, indicating public sector preferences for consolidated contractor responsibility. “The government has design-build tenders that we do put together entire teams for, so full MEP, full architectural, full foundation and structural designing from ground up,” Rostant says. These complex procurements require coordination capabilities that smaller fabricators typically cannot provide independently.

Complete construction services distinguish Rosscon from steel fabrication specialists who focus exclusively on manufacturing and installation phases. “We are contractors, and we do foundation-to-finish work. We’ve done warehouses where we would break ground for the foundations and then we would finish bathrooms and tiles and sinks,” Rostant notes.

Equipment Upgrades and Efficiency Focus

Caribbean construction equipment markets face unique challenges, with machinery imports subject to extended lead times and limited local service networks that can impact productivity during critical project phases. Rosscon’s capital investment strategy addresses these constraints through equipment ownership rather than rental dependency, reducing external scheduling conflicts that frequently delay regional construction projects.

“Currently we are working a lot on our steel fabrication shop and our equipment as well. We have been traveling to several trade shows and getting ideas to upgrade our shops,” Rostant explains. Trade show research enables direct manufacturer relationships that bypass regional distributors, often resulting in more favorable pricing and service arrangements. “We are currently trying to get some more efficient equipment, and we do have orders for some new cranes and stuff that are going to allow us to rent out certain equipment.”

“We’re trying to get in-house equipment so that we could be a little more competitive in bids and we’re trying to be a lot more efficient in our shop,” Rostant says. Competitive bidding advantages come from eliminating rental costs that many competitors must factor into project pricing.

Automation investments target productivity improvements without compromising quality standards that established Rosscon’s market reputation. “Our fabrication shop is a lot of focus right now, so we try to focus on the quality of steel coming out of the yard and obviously mixed up with speed,” Rostant notes. “We have the quality coming out with the basic stuff, but we want to get it a little quicker. That’s our main focus right now.”

Brand Building and Market Leadership

Digital marketing adoption rates remain relatively low across Caribbean construction companies, creating opportunities for early adopters to capture market segments beyond traditional relationship-based referral networks. Social media platforms offer particular advantages in island markets where geographic constraints limit traditional advertising effectiveness, enabling companies to showcase project portfolios across multiple territories simultaneously.

“Recently, we jumped on the social media train. We’ve been kind of dormant in that industry, but my focus is trying to be the first company that people may speak about when they have a project to go on,” Rostant explains. “A lot of our customers are return customers and they know what we can do, but I want to reach out to the realm of people that don’t know us.”

Regional economic projections indicate 3.9% growth across Caribbean markets in 2025, driven primarily by tourism infrastructure development that aligns with Rosscon’s commercial construction specialization. “I want to be known and try to be more of a household name in construction on the island. Even up the Caribbean, we have a pretty good name up the islands and it’s about maintaining that,” Rostant says. 

Quality maintenance during scaling phases presents critical challenges for construction companies expanding beyond their historical operational scope. “The main focus for me is to keep the quality and standard high in work and just to project that name of Rosscon with high quality and good service in the construction industry locally and up the islands.”

As Caribbean construction markets continue expanding, Rosscon’s combination of technical expertise, regional presence, and family-business values positions the company to capitalize on growing infrastructure demands while maintaining the personal service approach that distinguishes it from larger competitors.

AT A GLANCE

WHO: Rosscon Limited

WHAT: Structural steel fabrication specialist and construction company offering design-build services from foundation to finish

WHERE: Frederick Settlement, Caroni, Trinidad and Tobago

WEBSITE: rossconltd.com

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