Tears fall as GMSA awards Dennis Morgan posthumously

Dec 02, 2012 News

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–    Lifetime Achievement accolade for L. Seepersaud Maraj & Sons
 
By Leonard Gildarie

It has become a fixture in the calendar year of the Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association (GMSA) but Thursday’s event at the Pegasus Hotel would go down in the annals of the private sector body as a special one, for a number of reasons.
Several of the country’s top businesses were recognized for their contributions but two stood out.

Entrepreneur Dennis Morgan, who built a garment company, employing over 1,000 persons and securing a number of international markets, was posthumously honoured for pioneering and developing the textiles and sewn goods industry in Guyana.
Then there was the Lifetime Achievement Award for L. Seepersaud Maraj and Sons Limited, one of Guyana’s oldest family of jewellers.
Along with several persons in the audience, there were tears in the eyes of Mrs. Dennis Morgan who received the award from business executive, Dr. Leslie Chin, on behalf of her husband.

The event was attended by a number of business leaders, Members of Parliament, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh.
Morgan, 64, passed away suddenly a few weeks ago, shocking the business community.
Not many persons are aware that almost all of Denmor’s products are exported or that its customers include some of the world’s leading brands and department stores, including Russell Athletic, Victoria’s Secret, Paris Accessories, Van Heusen, JC Penny and Wal-Mart.
According to the Guyana Office For Investment (GO-Invest), while Guyana is not known for having an apparel industry, Morgan and Denmor managed to show that companies can succeed amid global competition from leading manufacturers in locations such as China or Latin America.
Since it began production in 1997, Denmor Garment Manufacturers has enjoyed dynamic growth, expanding from 300 employees to 1,000 (97 percent of whom are women). Denmor has the capacity to respond to orders of up to 50,000 dozens of garments per month, and can produce up to 15 different styles at the same time, GO-Invest said.
According to GMSA, Morgan, founder and CEO of Denmor Garment Factory was, without doubt, the leading manufacturer of men’s, ladies and children’s outer and under garments in Guyana.

Lifetime Achievement
Receiving the significant Lifetime Achievement Award was L. Seepersaud Maraj and Sons, which operates in the Stabroek Market.
The family, according to Chairperson, Alex Graham, has been in business over 70 years, crafting gold jewellery of exceptional quality renowned around the world. The family is known especially for its staple for elaborate tilaries and exotic, multi-tiered bracelets.
They crafted a golden tilari (necklace) for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II when she visited in the 1990s, and a golden multi-tiered bracelet for the Duchess of Kent when she came to Guyana with her husband for the Independence celebrations some years ago.
It is unclear when the patriarch, L. Seepersaud Maraj, began selling from a showcase at that particular spot in the Stabroek Market, but there are records indicating that the shop was already in existence in 1935.
“He trained his sons Sharma, Ram and Heera and today, they are designing and fashioning superior gold jewellery together with their spouses Molly, Savitri and Kamla.”
The award was handed over to Heera Maraj, Managing Director, by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh.
Meanwhile, Sterling Products Limited received the ‘President’s Award For Export Achievement’ for its consistent growth and export expansion in the demanding Caribbean markets.

Sterling has recorded an exceptional 19% overall growth in export business in a single year, expanding to Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Barbados, and to the highly competitive Trinidad and Tobago market. It was noted that the company’s Umda Phalka Ghee and Baker’s Pride Shortening in Trinidad and Barbados, respectively, indicate that these products have superior functionality.
The award was presented by Prime Minister Hinds to Sterling’s Dianne Yhann, Export Sales Manager.

Plywood pays
Barama Company Limited, makers of plywood, also received recognition for “Attaining Verified Legal Origin (VLO) International Certification”.  Barama is one of the oldest foreign companies in Guyana and said to be the largest investor in the forestry sector.
Qualfon (Guyana) Inc, an international call centre on the East Coast of Demerara, was recognized too for “Improving and Expanding International Marketing Service and Involvement in Community Development”
Since 1996, Qualfon has been ranked the top performing Business Processes Outsourcing (BPO) service provider.  Qualfon has been in this business internationally for some 16 years now, beginning as an IVR provider for well known clients, including IBM and AT&T.
Also awarded were Total Air Cargo (Amerijet) for “Breaking new grounds in Transportation Logistics” and  Farfan and Mendes/Mines Services Ltd for “Extending the range of services to the Mining, Forestry and Wood Products industries, and introducing new and innovative technologies and methodologies”.
The EMPRETECO Award went to Barbara Dublin-Peterkin of B’s Beauty Circle and Naturopathic Centre, Visions of Excellence Personal Development Centre and B&D Farm Complex. The award is intended to foster the true spirit of entrepreneurship
Camex Restaurants Ltd, which manages Church’s Chicken, Dairy Queen, Mario’s Pizza and Quiznos Restaurants, was also recognized for its input to the fast food business in Guyana.

Superior Shingles and Wood Products, owned by the Bulkan family and located along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, also received an award for introducing new technologies in the wood business with their shingles and for breaking into new, international markets.
For its line of chutneys, essences and achar, Eccles-based Prestige Manufacturing Bottling Enterprise was recognized for its contribution to the agro-processing sector.
Fashion personality Sonia Noel was recognized for her expansion and placing Guyana on the map as far as fashion creations are concerned.

 

 

 

 

 

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