Hanging tough

BUSINESS may be slow in the manufacturing sector, but owners are not giving up.In fact, some of them are trying new initiatives and hoping to get into overseas markets.A trip to businesses yesterday at Spring Garden and Grazettes Industrial Park in St Michael, revealed business as usual, with workers clad in masks sanding pieces of furniture at most outlets.Anthony Pierce, owner of Pierce Furniture, who spoke on behalf of his group – which included Greaves Furniture and Regal, off Spring Garden – said business was very slow.“Things are much slower than last year, but we’re hoping that things will pick up between next month and September,” he said.Pierce said the group had also been trying to penetrate the Trinidad market and the outlook was positive.“We have the all-clear from Government but it will also call for a financial push, so that is something we have to work on,” he stated. “Their businesses do top-of-the-line furniture and occasionally office furniture. Yvette Ifill, secretary at Caribbean Cabinets, said although business was tough now, it was not as bad as last year.“Last year was extremely horrible, and this year is bad but not as bad. We are getting little jobs here and there, so we are trying our best to keep employment going, because last year we had quite a few layoffs,” she said.She felt Government needed to do more to help businesses with their exports.“They are always talking about helping the furniture business, but it’s just talk. Nothing is being done with the recession and business is really tough. Government needs to step up their game. The business is dying, they talk about Buy Bajan, but they are importing a lot of the stuff and the businesses are suffering.”Caribbean Cabinets is known for its kitchen and bathroom sets and occasionally wardrobes. Owner of Matrix Marketing in Grazettes, Randolph Sandiford, said business was worse this year and people were not buying as before.Projects stalledHowever, he said a lot of the major projects that were stalled last year, like some in St Lucia, were coming back on stream and he expected things to pick up.Sandiford noted that his matrix cane (elephant grass) had been receiving good responses and the company was pursuing opportunities for the elephant grass in St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago, and hoping also to get into those markets by yearend.“When the recession started in 2008, we spent a lot of time experimenting with new and innovative products. For example, our matrix cane . . . the response to that has been very good. We have done floors, furniture, room dividers and individual pieces and we are now in the process of supplying 88 rooms for a hotel using the same material,” he noted.Sandiford said he still believed there was scope to supply the hotel chains here as long as businesses were given the opportunity and sufficient notice.“One of the things hotels do is to come at the last minute, when it is almost impossible, and then claim the local manufacturing [sector] is not able to supply, so they can go to the ministry to seek duty-free concessions,” he lamented.The MIDWEEK  NATION was unable to reach the owner of Workbench Furniture, James Linton, who also had several beautiful pieces of furniture on display and six grand showrooms.