Packaging empowerment through AIP

Though much has changed positively in recent years for persons living with disabilities, there are still challenges on the way to full assimilation as productive and creative citizens.

Helping significantly to smooth that journey is Agri and Industrial Packaging Limited, under the exemplary leadership of Chairman and CEO Hugh Gray. The leading manufacturer of industrial packaging items in Jamaica for over 31 years, Agri and Industrial Packaging Limited, is not only a trusted name in the business sector, it has gained and kept the trust of the disabled community, who have gained employment there and who enjoy all privileges afforded by the entire workforce.

And the benefits go beyond just being on the payroll. All meetings convened by Agri and Industrial Packaging Limited (AIP) which require the attendance of members who are speech and hearing impaired, feature the services of an Interpreter, and the company also absorb the full cost of doing so.

Further AIP has continued to reserve 20% of its workforce for the enablement of persons with disabilities.

In such a caring and welcoming environment, it’s little wonder that disabled team members thrive, and one individual earned a promotion to the position of Shift Supervisor.

For his own part, Gray, expressed his personal satisfaction with the progress of what may be dubbed 'the Enablement Movement' at AIP, something which he views as an integral element of the company’s overall success.

“For me, it is particularly gratifying to us as an organisation, to observe some of our members remain in the employ of Agri and Industrial Packaging Limited for periods upwards of 10 years, and in particular to know we are helping team members reach their full potential - for the benefit of all.”

Modest though he may be, such altruism has not gone unnoticed. Recently, Gray, in his capacity as chairman and chief executive, was recognised for his contribution to the enablement of persons with disabilities as advised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, in a ceremony held at Emancipation Park.

Job Placement Officer/Social Worker, Ms Jacqueline Bennett, noted that the company’s action on behalf of the disabled community represented a “great leap for the society as a whole and is well worth emulating.”

So when next you consume a polyethylene or plastic-packaged product, remember that you’re enabling Jamaicans to live richer, more fulfilled lives.

Agri and Industrial Packaging Limited provides packaging solutions to individuals, hotels, retail stores, supermarkets, bakeries, plant nurseries, manufacturers, banks and hospitals. We are equipped to produce a wide variety of plastic packaging solutions of any size, style and colour.