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• Today(left) is a

by JENNIFER FFRENCH

W HO' IS Carlton Alex­ander -' th"at is,

besides being one of themost well known business­men in this country. thepresident of the Private Sec­tor Organisation of Jamaica(PSOJ). past president ofthe Jamaica Chamber 01Commerce, Board member";; ..of numerous companies.and chairman and chiefexecutive of Grace Kennedyand Company Limited?

He is a nry patriotic Jamilican whohas exhibited unfhogging optimismwhen ,housands of others have givenup ana. left. an indefatigable cham­pion of the frcc cntcrpr~ system, anda man who fought his way up from astock clerk at Cu.ee Kcnn~dy to thenumber one man in the companywhich today employs 2.000 people.

"People rOTgcl tbat I am I Penon," heuid durinlf an interview which tried tofind OUl b.. ttory. and whal !Dake. himlid..

If thefl: Wll5 ever ill Cinderella IIOry inIhil counuy. thal of Cuhon Alcuodtr uii, and in a WIY, he is the epitome of whitthe free enterpri$e synem Clll produce withhilrd work, initiltive and opportunitin,

First 01 nine childrenBbrn in Montego Bay. to Selwyn and

Rosina Alexander on May 9, 1916, he wuthe lint of nine, and when hil; sickly fltherdied 20 dilys after hil; 16th binhchy, muchof 'the burden or helping with the lupportof his mother, the lour youngcr boys ilndthe four younger girls fell on hil; $houlden.

A yur Iller dter plNin, tbe SeniorCoambridle eu.minuioru, hiOl Sl.ud~ on aCO\lemmeot Open Scholanhip to JlmaicaCollege were completed. he faced theworld with familioal rnponJibilitia .puniDIhim to find a job rlther thoan pUTlue bUstudin 10 becenle the lil,wyer he hid Willi­e Ie, I.

•

at 64, Carlton Aiexand rself-taught man, a Fellcw

of the Jamaica Institute ofManagement, and over the Ia$t fewcecade 0 e of th ~ '1l0St so Jaht

'-

worl<

rilSe, hi5 work WI$ scmetima ill conflictwith his family life. but thill he WOll IlwlYSknown IS a goed provider. There weretimes when busine.. w;u put before familymltlen but he $:lid thlt now thlt the chil­dren are all grown up. they undentilndhim better Ind koow thlt be hiid tbeirlong lerm interC$.l al hun,

Mr. Alexar.der WOlS one ef tbe few \/oulbusinessmen who milinllined il positive uti·tude on 'oamakil's preloCnl econemic Itilteand fUlure for il long time lind in the face"f lIilny uh !f" .u,.' tin miln, nf

• O!\ TilE rOVER.

JI ... Uj~, ,~ons,

~. " f,unilillr roll' - Mr..\Ii'\lIndrr ·,,,'inl: "nl' ofhi. mllill ~pt·t'chl·. ,,' .. "..nil'1" dUI II Iwon.(riKhl)

I. ,\I "'fl. O' ~lirl'''··: .....ut··r an "I l"r , •.•r ­)Ir. \It:undrr r..... "UI~ Ih .. 1'00110' nd)IKrketlnjr f>tMUti. 'I Jam..lrll. .... lIrd I. - lht'J';t'((Ind )"nr hI 1. ...... :~,,; j ~.'t- and\1:lrI.NinK E\t'rutiH J:;mlltrol "rl·.,lll'ntElon l\l'rkf"rd mak, lht pr ~. mlilt.,

'Totally anti-Communist'The man who hu b«n called "the left

wing o( the PSOr said that be is tGullyand·Com:nunist and docs not think IhatCommuniun is any good for Jamaica urthat it can help w.

Hil !'eatC'll dream iI to _ tbe eccoo·my cum arollnd. and he Jilid thai II Ion!u he can 40 and corne fretl,. he will neverlene Jamalca.

The secret of his succeu. he s_id. isthat he was (ortunate to get an opportunityand he mad~ use of it by the dint of hard.work. and application.

The op:ronunity for him WII gellingthe job. an he uid that he urongly believ,es that everybody should be siven a chanceand that people should be encouraged todo the things lhey do best.

His one weaknes.s, he said, is thai hewas born first and likes to come first.

"I play to win," he uid ..

Asked about (he ~outce of his op:im •ism. he uid it Items rrom the knowledgeIhat Jamaica has pOleQtials in iu naturaland hUrD an resources, but that what he isnot sold on. is that changing around po:iti.cal panic. is going to help.

"I am optimistic b«aUK I f«1 that t:,~

country could bave been made to work,"be said. adding that ollr main probler:ubave been a lack. of production and 101.1. teconomic maDagement.

D«laring that he hu lOme very rlIedviews. he said that if he II.ronaly bclieVCll insomething - rishtl,. or wrongly - he wi!1stand up (or it, wbetber it is popular ornol.

DctCribina bimself II a Jama.Kan· fiflland foremon. Mr. Aleundcr bcliC'l'es tbateducation bold. the key for the future. andin "'eepint with thil. bil company rr:c~ntlyinvested \4 million in bigher educaliontbrouJb Kholanhip. aDd in helping (1)

ntabh.tt a new COUf'lc at the Univrnitr ofthe West Indies.

He is worried' about what can be done:0 unify Jamaica at this lime. IOmelhing\o~ich he said the country badly'needs,

An implicit believer in the private enter'pnse syltem. he said thai the S)'$tem hureponlibililies and that the people in itshould accept and uucise them.

n1l1'un,' h .... · ,.r nr<,·"Ifrp· UIi" \Ir.l,,'nu~, I I", 7t'1

:\. T"p phlll" .h',1< It.Ordl·f nr J~,·.lttCIt .. I\1,'\:.nJ. r Lo\ t,lto"rn'I,in '!l.,I., In I!I';":;.

un"'nown for firing a man on the spot. aodthen telephoning tbe nut morning to ukwh,. be wu nOt ill wnrk.

Alked about this reputation, be nid:"I lei of( lI.eam - bue wben il is fUlished,it iI finished, and tbat holda eveo to thilday.w ,

"We were broughl up tbe tOuah ",a,..and I believe work is work and play is playand that they can't be mixed." he Iilid.

Accepting reapolllibility ranb hiatt onAleunder'l Kale o( principles and be saidIha ha...-:t brought up to believe that itmust be accepted. and dealt with,

'" havc 2.000 children in the pcop)e 1employ and eacb o( tbem has an av"useof four children which mealll that I have8.000 dependents. and I feel responsiblefor them. .

This Itnlt o( responsibility teem. tohave communicated iuelI tn the "orllt" IIthe Company and ",:eu beion: I Ihou"hlof writing the Itory of Culton .\leuucleran employee said to:nt "Mr Aleuuder..him il one of the greatest. We han beenproducin/ tbin1;;1 Uut art nOI lellia3because 0 tb.. tc:..nOfIllC I1IUol.UOn and hehasn't laid off anybody - and. ' a~ nOtuyinl this beca.u.se I wori. here. ~

Married IWlce. Mr. Aleundtr has twodaug!lIen by his first marmtge .hKh end·ed in divorce, and 01'0 IOIU and a daushterfrom the secord marria~ which hal beengoing for ~l 'au.

He said that in :ne early 'l'Can of mar

but difficulties witb working and lI.udyin!so thar he could quaJi(y plw a growiDgIDve for tbe world of butintM made himabandon the idea soon aher.

M!"'.· Aleunder Slid tba~ at Ibe tUnc,tbe fuhionable decilion .u bet.een tbecommerciaJ field and the ciyiJ lernee, aDdsiDce many of his c1asamates .ere joiningthe- civil Knite, be palled tbrougb a rri­od of eonflice but eventually lIaye inbwincu. ,

"I suppose 11uned to enjoy wbat I WII

doing, ~ he nid, adding Ihal be also saw alot of opportunities for development in thebusinus world.

He learnt early that the key to suceCIJin business is person·to·per$On contact. and.he capitalised on thil, and in addition, hewas working with t'wo sound businessmenwhich helped.

"I was fortunare to wor'" with Mr, JimMoss Solomon who WII a lOund if colltCrva'tive businessman. and .itt, fred Kennedywho was dynamic and forw"rd tbinking. hesaid, after describing them as two of tbefioest busineumen tbal Jamaica baaproduced.

The man who said thai t.e hili keell for·tunate that he hu made 'HI job mOlT thana .or.... and into a carttr ..nd .. bobb)' ill

tbt Iilme time. said that altbougb peopwmake a mystery 01.11 of bL.Jines; thert isreally no mYSlery in it.

He Iilid that il .as very pndKal a.ndthat tbe main thing is obligation andapplKation.

"To be in business. you have 10 be prag·matic, lnd to make anything a SUCCCIJ youhave to plan it and follow Ihrough.~ Mr.Alexander laid that you mUll have clearobjecti\'u first for yourltlf and for thepeople who work for you. and that besidedreams and imaginations .hich arc impor'tam. must reside ~he know·ho. to imple·ment and bring them to a hol.ppyconclusion.

Forceful businessmanA hardnosc busines.sman he is, and also

a Vtry forceful one; and he is very inloler·ant or indiK:ipline and not Joing a jobprc,.. r1v Ii il said that i the earl-/' tia~"S ofb'111din", Crace Kennedy. be ",u not

011c-r SPt:uKt:I::>

dinners, etc.·.r j.iU ... " ,r" ~Ullnb ilDU " ... 11

. j/IOY of Grace Kcnnedy ....hich ,It the",roc employed only I!i people. Over the

next 47 yCOilrl, an astute builnesll acumen,plus finn principln p;uscd on 10 him byhis mother would be his guide 10 the chidu«:utivc P-OSI in oDe of the lute" locallyowned companic. in Ihis country.

Family responsibilityHis father blld died le..";ng an iMur­

loce policy of a £100 and by the lime bismother was Ipcndinllbc lut of it. be drewhis lim PlY cbeque of the- 10£1, lum of{%.OO a week, which be uid WII I loodubry It the lime. •

"My mother had nuer worked Ind it­all fell 00 me." he uid, adding thllt bi"gundf,uhcr (mother'. fatber) who wasalive helped but thai mNt of it was bit,"ponJibilitr·

He \fal followed by three airls, and asthey each complcu:d tbeir f[udiel, the)'played tbeir pan b:r Issuming lOme o( theruponsibilities, an 10 it went down theline until everyone Wa5 taken care of.

Orange Hill Prep School in MontegoBay and St. John's College in Kingnonlook care of his earlien education, and

"'I besides hil years at Jamaica College, otherformal educuion included night c1assel atKingnon College learning, shorthand, typoing/and book·keeping.

Today at 64, Mr. Aleunder is a self·uUfht man, a fellow o( the JamainInstitute of Management, and over the lutfew d«adcs, one of the most $Ousht afterlunch and after·dinner speaker at Krviceclubs, Khools, and mOSI other functions.

The gTowth o( Grace Kennedy is al$Othe growth of Carlton Aleunder, and herccalled Ibu when he joined the companyin 19~~. there' were- many compani('1 tbl!were- more innue-ntial than it, but he andthe owner fred Kenne-tty wanted il to benumbe-r one, and $0 uid $0 done.

It was no euy task howeyer, for Mr.Aluander said, busineu WII very com'petitive in the 19~O's.

for many yUJI after he WII working,tie thought about pursuing his ambition 10be a lawyer. The innuence o( JC old boy(National Hero) Norman. Manley WIIgrel!. and others like the Ashenheims wereexcelling in law. Hc spcnt the twO weeks ofhis lim vacation leave at Supreme Courtlistening 10 lOme or the brilliant ddencClothu Mr. Manlcy carried on in \hose dap.