LENSTEC BARBADOS INC., the Christ Church-based medical device company that manufactures 100 000 lens a month for cataract surgery, has created 33 jobs for Barbadians this year and there are plans to add dozens more over the next few months.
Vice-president of administration for Lenstec, Anndell Cummins, made this disclosure yesterday afternoon during a tour of the company by Minister of Industry and Small Business Denis Kellman and officials of the Barbados Manufacturers Association (BMA).
“We anticipate a significant growth in the levels of our staff and at some stage we could be up to 200. For this year, we have added 33 people, which includes departments such as production, as well as some of the areas of management,” she said.
Lenstec, which is located in Pilgrim Road, currently has a staff complement of between 140 and150.
“On a daily basis, we get many applications and so I believe that between now and the year-end we will get additional staff. It is hard to say what that number will be but the company is growing steadily and quickly.
“We don’t add to our staff just because we have a lot of work; we add to our staff based on knowing that we have consistency, that is, we are able to give people permanent employment. That is always our goal,” she added.
Cummins said the company had outgrown the facility and space was a major issue.
“We moved into this building in 2008. It is now 2011 and just about every department is asking for additional space,” she noted.
“We are required to keep documentation on each lens that we have made, since inception, for 50 years, so you can see that documentation alone is a challenge.”
Lenstec has exported to Europe and Asia, with the product now going into Taiwan and China.
“We are selling around the region and have taken our product to North America, across Europe and the Asian market. We also have a branch company in the United Kingdom that handles a lot of the distribution,” Cummins pointed out.
“We are working in the Philippines and the process for that is ongoing. We are also doing some work in China and we like the growth that we are seeing there.”