Harris Paints Hosts Antigua Government Officials at It's Antigua Paint Factory

Harris Paints recently hosted a factory visit for a group of Antiguan government officials representing a range of departments including the Office of the National Authorising Officer, Customs, the Bureau of Standards and the Ministries of Finance and Trade, who received a guided tour of the manufacturing plant and warehouse facilities.

Over three years have passed since Harris Paints opened its new factory at the former Leewind Paints site in Antigua, after investing almost $5 million EC to completely retrofit the building and install state-of-the-art equipment. The site became Harris’ fifth paint manufacturing facility to operate in the Region at the time.

Since then, Harris Paints and their local team of 100% Antiguan employees have been manufacturing a wide range of emulsion paints, of which about 40% are exported, and the Antigua factory was used as the pilot facility to produce and launch Harris new patent-pending Quantum i12 technology, which is now propelling the company to reach new markets, even outside of the Caribbean.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Clarence Henry, who was part of the visiting group of officials, remarked “I am pleased to have had the opportunity to participate in this important exercise. The team was able to observe Harris Paints’ operations and receive firsthand information on its production process and export markets. It was certainly an eye-opening engagement, and the type of interaction which I believe can be useful for the Government, as it seeks to encourage and support industrial and sectoral development.”

In addition to the local staff of Harris Paints, Chief Operating Officer for the Harris Paints Group Mrs. Marguerite Desir also attended the event and took the opportunity to share a brief presentation on the many things Harris has been doing in Antigua since commencing operations there. “We are proud of our commitment to local manufacturing, and of the employment and economic contributions we can make by operating factories across the Region. Our Antigua operation has certainly played a key role in our growth as a Group, having been the first to manufacture and launch our Quantum i12 technology in our premium Ulttima Plus line.”

Mrs. Desir showed the visitors a series of photos of community projects around Antigua that Harris has supported, including a number of beautification projects to which Harris has donated paint. “At Harris Paints we believe in being active members of the communities in which we operate” said Mrs. Desir, “and we are looking forward to partnering with many more Antiguan community groups, schools and clubs to help add even more colour to this beautiful island in the years to come”.

Throughout the interactive tour, a number of discussions were held on the topic of how Harris Paints and the Antigua government can collaborate more closely, with the aim of further growing the local economy by creating more jobs and generating more foreign exchange through exports.

Marguerite Desir, Harris Paints Group COO, in discussions with Dr. Clarence Henry of the visiting group.