Patriotic entrepreneur, Allison Butters-Grant, is a ‘Special Person’

Jan 28, 2018 Features / Columnists, News, Special Person

By Sharmain Grainger

“We were always big on quality and not so much quantity. If your product is not up to a certain quality and following certain standards, the quantity wouldn’t matter because your market will not be sustainable.”

Allison Butters-Grant

There are many people who, once given the chance, would seek a better life outside of Guyana. But there are those who even after achieving that, eventually come to the realisation that there is really no place like home.

This is especially when they are arrested by the thought that even after utilising all of their energies and knowledge behind successful projects and initiatives in a foreign land, the end result will always be the achievement of that country and not that of their homeland.

But only a patriot would even dare to think such thoughts.

Our dear land has indeed produced quite a few patriots over the years. Among them is a vibrant woman who is blessed with a very brilliant business mind. Her name is Allison Butters-Grant, and she has for the past few years helped to take Guyana’s seafood industry to a remarkable plateau. She currently holds the title of Chief Executive Officer of Global Seafood Distributors, a type of business venture that was first embraced by her parents – Leslie and Alma Butters [both deceased] – since 1966.

While some might say that she was born with the genetic make-up to succeed in such a business enterprise, Butters-Grant will tell anyone willing to listen that the road to success is not an easy one, as it can be fraught with challenges, some of which can position a business for certain failure.

Although most entrepreneurs would rather not share their secret to success, Butters-Grant isn’t at all hesitant to do so. In fact it easily rolls off of her tongue. “When you have God on your side and you believe God is on your side, a challenge looks like a walk in the park,” the businesswoman confided during a recent interview.

BUILDING A FOUNDATION

But from whence did this vivacious and outspoken woman come?

She recently spoke of growing up in Charlestown, Georgetown, as the older of two children born to her parents. Theirs was a well-to-do family, and as a young girl, Allison certainly didn’t want for much.

“My parents were entrepreneurs; they were into fishing, gold mining, farming, chicken and pig-rearing and they both were very prominent in the operations of their businesses,” Allison vividly recalled.

Prior to being absorbed in the business ventures, she remembered her mother as a school teacher. As such, her family was particularly big on ensuring that all of its members were well educated. Allison attended St. Gabriel’s Primary, St. Rose’s High School and then The Bishops’ High, after which she was certain that she was ready to take over her parents’ business ventures.

“I saw myself at the time just taking over from my parents because we [herself and brother] were intricately involved in all of my parents’ businesses,” Allison remembered.

However, her parents had other plans, which entailed her travelling to the United States to further her education. This allowed her to attain a degree in Business Administration-Accounting and a wealth of work experience.

Acquiring her work experience spanned over two decades while she lived and worked in the United States.

Allison and her husband, Kerwin Grant.

“I would have worked in so many different industries…I’ve worked at BBDO, which is one of the largest advertising companies in the US; I worked as a paralegal, an accountant, a consultant at the Morgan Stanley Investment Bank, and I even worked at the Kings County Hospital in child psychiatry. I gained an array of knowledge within different industries,” Allison shared.

In fact, she revealed that with each additional exposure she would consider how best she could utilise it in Guyana.

“Guyana was always on my mind,” recalled Allison, who further disclosed that “living in the US made me independent, because I didn’t have my parents after a period to support my lifestyle.”

She moreover worked exceptionally hard to maintain the comfortable lifestyle that she was accustomed, so much so that she was even able to later cater to her parents’ needs when that time came.

Being able to lend support to her parents in their time of need brought with it an especially satisfying feeling to Allison since, according to her, “I never wanted for anything when I was young, they took care of all of my needs. I was happy that it was not burdensome to give back to them when they needed it.”

But achieving her career goals in the US was not without some difficulties at times. You see, Allison had travelled to the US in 1986 with a student visa to pursue her higher education. However, when she decided to prolong her stay, for a period she was undocumented.

“I can relate to the challenges that people have being undocumented in the United States, but I was fortunate to be able to get the opportunity to work in a lot of industries and to understand basically what I could bring back to Guyana despite of that,” Allison reflected.

During her stay in the US she also gave birth to her daughters, Tiffany and Tricina, and even wedded her partner, Kerwin Grant, who has played an integral role in her business ventures over the years.

DON’T COME BACK

Taking time out for a photo opportunity with Guyanese music icon Eddie Grant during
his visit to the business outlet.

Although her ultimate goal was to eventually return to Guyana and utilise her acquired knowledge and work expertise within her parents’ businesses, Allison recalled that there came a time when her parents simply went out of business.

“They went out of business for many more reasons than one…I remembered my father saying to me ‘if you can get better opportunities in the US make the best of it and don’t come back, because business is not what it used to be’. That really hurt, because I grew up in Guyana; I loved my country and my aim was always to come back home,” Allison reflected.

Although success was forthcoming in just about every career path she delved into, Allison recalled that she longed to return to Guyana.

“It was so bad that I used to have my parents send me every week the newspaper of every news house [through a shipping company] just to keep up with what was happening in Guyana…at the time there was no news on the internet,” she recalled.

As an undocumented resident, Allison’s fears included being unable to return to Guyana if something were to happen to her parents who she kept close to, over the years, by way of telephone calls. After many prayers, her fears were eventually addressed when she became a documented resident and was able to return to Guyana in 2000 for the first time since leaving in 1986.

“It was an exciting time…It was Christmas time and my cousin was getting married and I was so excited to see my parents and my other family members who I hadn’t seen for so long,” said Allison of the first of many trips back home.

A shipment of fish products ready for the international market.

BUSINESS IDEA

Returning home understandably became a regular feature. In fact, it was during one of these visits that the possibility of introducing a seafood business that entailed shipping fish from Guyana to the United States was raised by her parents. This was in light of the fact that Allison, who was living in New Jersey, had revealed how she would at times travel to New York just to purchase fish that came from Guyana.

The idea was intriguing and Allison was very receptive. Before long she was collaborating with her parents to have the venture brought to fruition.

“We did a survey to determine if we took fish to New Jersey how well it would be accepted, and then we studied the target market. Everybody was bringing frozen fish with scales to the US and so we decided we could do fish without scales,” Allison recounted.

The venture entailed the Butters’ reaching out to a local company with the ability to supply the requisite type and quality of fish which allowed for a novel business venture to take off. It translated to a business that catered to the needs of households in the US with a desire to have fish already cleaned and ready to cook.

Guided by her parents, Allison together with her husband was able to create the brand ‘Butters and Grant Caribbean Seafood’ which became a staple in East Orange, New Jersey.

“We had big-name supermarkets that we were supplying to, we had private clientele and we even had a delivery service…we had a really big following,” Allison said.

But that venture was short-lived as the Guyana supplier went out of business. There were other attempts to find other suppliers, but the high quality of fish that the ‘Butters and Grant’ brand had grown synonymous with, simply was not forthcoming. This, Allison recalled, led to a decision to sell the business altogether.

Some of the ready-to- cook products

Despite being still very engaged in corporate America, Allison felt incapable of shaking the desire to be an entrepreneur. She soon after secured yet another niche market, which again embraced her passion to provide consumers with high quality fish products from Guyana. Instead of frozen fish, it was smoked fish this time, and that too took the target market by storm.

For this reason, she disclosed that the aim was always to provide a pristine product that the various target markets wanted. That business continued unhindered until again, the supplier went out of commission.

RETURNING HOME

This, however, didn’t bring an end to Allison’s seafood aspirations. It wasn’t long after she learnt of the possibility of operating a seafood business back in Guyana. The possibility came in the form of what was then an abandoned and very dilapidated fish processing facility located at 8 West Ruimveldt, Front Road, Georgetown.

“It was just a royal wreck, but I decided to go ahead and lease the location, because I figured we could clean it up…my husband thought I was crazy at first,” a smiling Allison related. However, it was with the support of her husband that she was able to transform the facility by 2014 to what is today – a thriving middle level business enterprise known for its production of the highest quality fish the Guyanese society has ever seen. In fact, as its name suggests, Global Seafood Distributors has been exporting its high quality fish products, and like before, these have been well received in the US.

“We have crossed all of the challenges that people can encounter, but Global Seafood’s after four years of operation, will have many more years. I say to people, if you can survive living in somebody else’s country and accomplish what myself and husband have, coming to Guyana is no different,” Allison confidently asserted.

Global Seafood is today considered a family-oriented business with input coming not only from Allison and her husband, but her daughters and six-year-old grandson, Declan, who has already embraced an entrepreneurial mind-set.

Former Prime Minister Ptolemy Reid and Banker John Yates [extreme right and second
from right respectively] in the company of Allison’s parents back in the day.

But a business can only be as good as its employees. For this reason, Allison has been ensuring that training is available for those directly and indirectly employed by the company. This tactical move is based on her understanding that in order for the fish products she sells to retain they high quality, care must be taken from the time they are caught in the sea, during their transport and preparation for the end users. This is particularly important for Allison, since the Global Seafood business fully embraces the motto, “We eat what we sell”.

“Quality is important to us! Because of where we are coming from, this is expected…if we say we are giving you a quality product, that is exactly what you will get, and we have been doing that. If you say it is fillet, there should be no bones; if you say it is skinless, boneless, you shouldn’t find skin and you shouldn’t find bones. Coming from a background of working in a variety of industries in the United States where the slightest mistake could cost you money, we brought that same mentality to Global Seafood, and that has been wholly embraced by our staff,” Allison explained.

In addition to utilising the services of many artisanal fisherfolks, Global Seafood has within its employ a daily staff complement of about 20 individuals, many of whom were recruited from West Ruimveldt and other areas within proximity. However, some staff members come from as far as Victoria on the East Coast of Demerara, an area where Global Seafood is slated to soon introduce yet another fish processing facility.

“If I can give back to anybody in order for them to build capacity or to basically upgrade their lifestyle or take care of their kids, that means a whole lot to me,” confided Allison, who is satisfied that she has not only returned to her homeland, but has been able to contribute in a meaningful way to its development.