More management moves at FosRich
Published:Thursday | November 19, 2015 | 12:00 AMBarbara Ellington
The 20-year-old FosRich Group of Companies is ready for the exciting challenges of the technology age so, with that in mind, managing director Cecil Foster has made strategic management changes.
Joining general manager Tricia Edwards are Errol Brown, the company's new industrial-production sales engineer, and Gareth Dowding, marketing supervisor.
Brown, who took up duties in September, brings a wealth of local and international experience, ranging from Good Year Jamaica Limited, which was based in St Thomas, to University of Virginia in the United States of America. At FosRich, he will verify the certification of all electrical products, develop strategies for projects in the sector and develop and deliver electrical training to the staff.
Brown, a former senior instructor at the Human Employment and Resource Training/National Training Agency, was also an energy-programmes technician at the University of Virginia. At one time self-employed, he also did stints at LOJ Property Management Limited and GraceKennedy Limited.
Brown has done work on projects at Breezes Hotel, St Ann, the Inland Revenue Department, the MRI Centre at Freeport, Montego Bay, and at the University of the West Indies, among others. This augurs well for FosRich, where he will be serving electrical contractors, government agencies, factories and major companies.
"We will design, supply and install all their electrical needs. We are a multi-skilled team capable of working in line with what any organisation needs," Brown told The Gleaner.
With in-house training, staff can meet customers' needs all over the island.
"Many of the clients we serve are returning residents, while others are looking to build second homes. We go to them as the need arises," Brown said. The ultimate aim is that FosRich will be the go-to source for knowledge in all things electrical.
Quintessential
Caribbean man
Gareth Dowding, marketing supervisor, will be using available means of modern communication to move the inventory off the shelves and into businesses, corporate offices and homes of customers in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
Also armed with local and international experience, Dowding is the quintessential Caribbean man with roots and branches in Guyana, Barbados, Antigua, Belize and now Jamaica.
In Jamaica since 2011, he joined the FosRich team at a time when the company was grasping the prospects of Jamaicans turning to solar power.
"I helped to push that new thinking, and the growth from Kingston to Montego Bay, and, more recently, Mandeville,' he said.
Getting used to different dialects is, at times, daunting, but he is focused on staying abreast of the latest trends in social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to spread FosRich's message to customers and keep them educated about the product use.
"One thing we have noticed is that homeowners are doing more of their purchases themselves and are more conscious about solar lighting and heaters, LED bulbs, and how to decrease their energy costs," Dowding said when asked whether consumers were understanding the changes in the industry.
"We are in exciting times here, and I look forward to growing with FosRich. We have a visionary leader and a creative team. I look forward to FosRich being the one-stop shop for all electrical needs and playing an integral role in meeting the electrical needs of Jamaica and beyond," he said.