Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 24, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

Acorn, a group of national leaders from the trade unions and private and public sectors, is concerned about Jamaica’s environmental sustainability and as part of its 25th anniversary is hosting a climate change summit sponsored by the European Union. Under the theme ‘Climate departure and resilience: Is Jamaica ready for the journey?’ the summit will take place today in hybrid format.

The objective of the summit is to draw attention to the urgency for Government and private, public, and social sectors to respond effectively to the implications of rising temperatures.

The summit will address areas such as balancing economic growth, job creation, and environmental protection for areas such as tourism, agriculture, and physical and technological infrastructure development.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 24, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

The GraceKennedy (GK) Foundation Annual Lecture last week celebrated the 100th anniversary of the company, its generous outreach, and its phenomenal growth. The foundation’s Chairman Dr Fred Kennedy announced that he had completed the biography of his father, founder Luis Fred Kennedy, entitled Firstborn, and all proceeds would go towards the GK Foundation’s scholarship programme. The stories of students from humble means who have been able to ascend the professional ladder served as evidence of the success of this programme.

We heard from visionary past group CEO Douglas Orane on the strategic direction of the company and from current CEO Don Wehby on Orane’s challenges to him when he served as chief financial officer. He recalls having to source funding for an overseas project and that it was a conversation with Miss Stella, an office attendant, which triggered thoughts on how this could be done. He said this was a lesson that one should “listen to everybody, whether office attendant or chairman; show them respect; and be humble”.

Wehby was happy that earlier this year GK’s 100th anniversary service was held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral next door to his Alma Mater St George’s College. An excerpt from his address at the service was played: “We have always, without fail, adhered to the core values: honesty, integrity, and trust. We have stayed true to our mantra, ‘We Care.’ Congratulations, GK, on this 100th anniversary lecture, rich with memories and lessons. Please watch on YouTube.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 24, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

As I watched Private sector Organisation of Jamaica (PsOJ) president and JMMB Group Chairman Keith Duncan presenting the PsOJ Hall of Fame citation to Michael Lee-Chin, Jamaican-born international financier and chairman of the NCB Financial Group, I turned to fellow guests at my table and said, “Look at the new face of banking in Jamaica; 30 years ago we would hardly think this possible.”

We reflected on their lives, these sons of two matriarchs — Joan Duncan and Hyacinth Chen — who laid the foundation on which their children would build their regional and international businesses.

We recall the national honours ceremony last Monday at King’s House at which Duncan’s mother, Joan, was invested into the Order of Jamaica, one of our country’s highest national honours. I remember the comment of a former co-worker of Joan when she started JMMB. She shared that Joan had a deep faith and was a gifted expert in banking so her success was sure. From the beginning she declared love to be the watchword of her business and it continues to this day. JMMB has named their foundation in her memory.

I first met Chen at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto when my shop handled the Jamaican media coverage of the opening of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. When I introduced myself I was pleasantly surprised when she embraced me and said she had been following this column. When I visited her in Mandeville she took me into her kitchen to show me one of my columns stuck on her refrigerator door. She was a woman of great wisdom, always reaching out to the less fortunate. Michael Lee-Chin sponsored the Hyacinth Gloria Chen School of Nursing at the Northern Caribbean University in her honour.

The vision and empathy of their mothers have inspired these two Jamaicans to give back to their country in myriad ways. By coincidence, media cameras were trained on both men last Thursday. Keith Duncan, in his voluntary role as chairman of the Economic P ro g r a m m e O v e r s i g h t Committee (EPOC), presented the quarterly update on Jamaica’s economic status, declaring that we do not fully appreciate that, in comparison to many other countries, Jamaica is a positive example of post-COVID-19 recovery. As usual, Duncan was cautiously optimistic and lauded the Bank of Jamaica for its fiscal policies and the Government for providing funds for Jamaica’s vulnerable citizens.

As a perfect segue, later that evening Lee-Chin, chair of Jamaica’s Economic Growth Council (EGC), shared his guidelines for achieving success, citing the example of his parents and that had nothing to do with me. I didn’t choose my parents, I was blessed; I didn’t choose my country, I was blessed; I didn’t choose the era in which I was born, I was blessed. Therefore, given my blessings, do I have a responsibility to those of my brothers and sisters who are less blessed?” The NCB Foundation was the mentorship of Warren Buffett. The strength of family was evident at the event: his brother, our favourite pop historian, Wayne Chen was emcee, his son Michael Lee-Chin Jr said the grace, and his younger children gave the vote of thanks.

Lee-Chin quoted the early 20th century Chicago architect Daniel Burnham: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realised. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.”

He recalled that day, March 22, 2002 when he decided to buy NCB, which had stood for two years on the auction block: “Just before writing the cheque, I thought, ‘How is it possible for the son of an orphan and clerk to be buying the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica?’

“In a flash the answers came to me. There are many factors that made it possible the answer, donating millions of dollars in scholarships and other projects.

Reflecting on his role as chairman of the EGC, he observed, “The big issue we have to solve is the trust deficit between the public and the private sector…We solve problems every day in our role as the private sector so we are problem-solving fit. If we want a better country, we have to find ways to engage with the public sector at all levels, work hand-in-hand to solve national issues.”

How can we ever give up on Jamaica when we have some of our best minds serving voluntarily on EPOC and on the EGC? All of us can take a page from the book of Joan Duncan and Hyacinth Chen by raising resilient, altruistic, and ambitious children who will take this country forward.

Written by: Aneika Mills

Pharmacist Kimesha O’Connor of BeWellers Pharmacy, a CCRP discount partner, was
the guest on last Sunday’s CCRP Update. Ms. O’Connor expressed a love for her
career which began when she volunteered to work at a pharmacy while in high school.
Today, Ms. O’Connor is fully invested and encourages youth to consider this career
path as it is a very fulfilling one. She commented on the various roles of a pharmacist,
however, the major role is ensuring that all medications are prescribed according to the
law.
For anyone wishing to become a pharmacist, specific subjects are required, however,
Ms. O’Connor stressed the need to acquire Chemistry. She also stated that it could take
up to four years to become a pharmacist after which one would need to undergo
internship for a year, complete at least 500 hours and lastly, sit a licensing exam. In
addition, annual re-registration is required.
Though the steps to becoming a pharmacist may prove daunting, Ms. O’Connor shared
that in this line of work, you get to be empathetic and touch lives. One must be a people
person to love this job as a pharmacist interacts daily with customers.
She shared that it is quite fulfilling when you are a part of a patient’s success story in
overcoming an illness, regardless of the severity.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 17, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

I was grateful that Observer Senior Business Reporter Dashan Hendricks featured my business journey in last Wednesday’s paper. Pressed for space, Dashan was not able to include that part of the interview when I related how my husband Hubie Chin became involved in the business. Please allow me to tell that story.

It was 1988 when we decided to adopt our second child and the business was getting even more demanding. Hubie, who is an engineer by profession and had a high paying job, agreed to join the business, thus allowing for a better work-life balance. What a blessing that was. Hurricane Gilbert hit in September of that very year and thanks to his skills, the business was up and running in days. Hubie’s arrival at PROComm also coincided with the demands of information technology which his scientific mind was quick to manage and to maintain over the past 34 years. This man of God is a caring father and husband, the math whiz and the DIY star. He is as humble as he is brilliant so I may get in trouble for writing this.

Happy Birthday to the rock of our family, our hero Hubie Chin.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 17, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

Congratulations to the recipients of National Honours at today’s Heroes’ Day presentation ceremony at King’s House. We are especially proud of Jamaica Observer Executive Editor Vernon Davidson CD, and other friends and colleagues Rita Humphries-Lewin OJ, Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughn OJ, Professor Alvin Wint OJ, Richard Pandohie CD, Alok Jain CD, Dr Audia Barnett OD, Dr Amina Blackwood-Meeks OD, Jeffery ‘Agent Sasco’ Campbell OD, Michael Anthony Clarke OD, O’Connor Basil Dawkins OD, Nayana Williams OD and Lloyd Williams OD.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 17, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

We gathered at the Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) Multi-Purpose Court last Friday to honour Jamaica’s Special Olympians for their triumphs in the USA Games in Orlando in June and those without disabilities who partnered for the SOJ United Football Team who won the Unified Cup Championships in Detroit in August.

In Orlando, the team copped 12 medals: five Gold, five Silver and 2 Bronze. The Unified Team Football team had a spectacular campaign in Detroit. They conceded not a single goal and beat Paraguay in the Final.

It was a pleasure to meet Golden Glove winner Omarion Brown (person without disability) of St. Catherine High.  The Golden Boot winner was Dillion Richards, also a person without disability, who scored five goals overall. What lessons of respect and compassion these young players are learning, collaborating with their teammates with disabilities to bring glory to Jamaica.

Standing strong for our Special Olympians at the celebration were Aldrick McNab, Chairman of SOJ, Lorna Bell, Executive Director of Special Olympics Caribbean, C. Roy Howell, Executive Director of SOJ and Charmaine Daniels, CEO of Digicel Jamaica Foundation. The Foundation highlights special needs during the month of October and hosted the event, ensuring that such achievements by our special needs family did not go unheralded.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 17, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

We joined in a merry Spain Day celebration hosted by Ambassador of Spain to Jamaica Diego Bermejo Romero de Torres and Mrs de Bermejo last Wednesday where Senator Tom Tavares-Finson toasted our Spanish friends on their long and supportive association with Jamaica.

We were able to get more information on the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation from their Manager Vanessa Meggoe. Founded in 2006, the Foundation is a collaborative effort of several Spanish companies with current investments in Jamaica. These include Bahía Príncipe Hotels & Resorts, Excellence Group, Global Exchange, Grand Palladium, Hospiten, Iberostar Hotel & Resorts, Riu Hotels & Resorts, and Secrets Resorts & Spas.

The Foundation awards bursaries to students of tertiary institutions across Jamaica, and since 2013 has been paying the CSEC examinations fees for Oral Spanish for students in all government high schools. Bursary awardees have been teaching Spanish in summer programmes for at-risk children and the Foundation is a $5 million donor to the Project Star Initiative.

Vanessa Meggoe enthused on the progress being made by their awardees and in particular those at the Sam Sharpe Teachers College. This augers well for the preparation of students to take their place on the staff of the ever growing Spanish hotels in Jamaica.

Learning Spanish is a skill that will serve you for a lifetime. My church sister Avril Shirley offers online classes and has authored useful learning tools. You can reach her via Instagram and Facebook. Jamaica is blessed in the support and investment which we receive from our international friends. Let us equip our students and ourselves to take advantage of the many opportunities they offer.  

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 17, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

There have been unremitting complaints about uncollected garbage and thankfully 50 new trucks have arrived to tackle those longstanding piles of waste. Now, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission Cordel Green has announced the ban of dangerous garbage not fit for airplay. This includes:

“● any audio or video recording, live song, or speech which promotes and/or glorifies scamming, illegal use or abuse of drugs (e.g., Molly), illegal or harmful use of guns or other offensive weapons, “jungle justice”, or any other form of illegal or criminal activity;”

● any edited song which directly or indirectly promotes scamming, illegal drugs, illegal or harmful use of guns or other offensive weapons, jungle justice, or any form of illegal or criminal activity. This includes live editing and original edits (e.g., edits by producer/label) as well as the use of near-sounding words as substitutes for offensive lyrics, expletives, or profanities.”

For over 30 years WMW Jamaica (formerly Women’s Media Watch) has presented studies on the damaging effects of such productions on our young people. These dangerous and dirty lyrics will normalise anti-social behaviour in the impressionable minds of our children. I remember one outreach worker saying that after she witnessed a ‘concert’ in an inner-city location in which children under ten were doing vulgar movements to sexually explicit lyrics, “I had to go home and take a long shower. There was so much filth on that stage.”

We applaud DJ NikkyZ who posted on social media, “I have no argument with the Broadcast Commission ban … none of that is in my rotation anyway … any DJ who complains they have nothing to play now SHOULD NOT BE IN RADIO…”  She shared some of her favourites who are “not just old school …  Protoje, Sevana, Mortimer, Kranium, the dancing music, Kabaka, Jesse, Jada, Shenseea, Sean Paul, new Shaggy, new Beenie Man.”

Many of us have memories of the music our parents played; our favourites were the ‘Queenie’s Daughter’ and Broadway soundtracks, Nat King Cole and Gospel. Today’s parents can make a difference in their children’s outlook with their choice of play. Those earbuds are convenient but take them out and share some good music and moves with your little ones; you will be influencing the choices that will help them navigate this challenging world.

For the sake of our children, let us clean up our country, our streets and our airwaves.  Let the fresh air fill their lungs and sweet music soothe their minds.

A Jamaica Observer feature published on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by Dashan Hendricks

There are some moments in life when people ask: Where were you? For Jean Lowrie-Chin, founder and executive chairman of Pro Comm, Pro Comm Developments, and the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP), most of those moments were created by her and her team.

An affable woman, Lowrie-Chin’s enthusiasm for public relations is only exceeded by the work she has done over the last 44 years in which she has been managing Pro Comm. But her journey to being one of the country’s best public relations entrepreneur could have easily been usurped by another profession.

“Well, my field was journalism,” Lowrie-Chin stated in the interview for this feature. “And then when I got married, and the hours were so terrible, as you would imagine, that I decided to switch to teaching. But, and I always tell people, you know, when you’re leaving a job leave in a blaze of glory. So I had to do an interview with Edward Kamau Brathwaite, the poet from Barbados who had made Jamaica his home. And, of course, I was a student of literature at UWI [The University of the West Indies]. So I really, really enjoyed the interview. I put my all into it and left after that to go on vacation and then to teach at Calabar, teaching English and drama,” she said.

Lowrie-Chin said in those years sports broadcaster Patrick Anderson was among her students, and while she worked as a journalist, she reviewed theatre for the Daily News and that article was remembered by Braithwaite who contacted her when Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere was to visit Jamaica in 1974. Braithwaite, who was impressed with the article, called and told her he wanted her to do the public relations (PR) work for the visit.

“I told him I had a job and he said, ‘No problem’, I will send a car for you.” Lowrie-Chin said she worked with Braithwaite on a spectacular show, which didn’t get off the ground because it rained.

The next year, for Carifesta, she was offered the job to do PR for that event as well, then after that she got a role as PR manager at Dunlop Corbin, a PR firm, at the end of 1976. Lowrie-Chin was a clear fit for the job as she constantly picked up new contracts for the firm. Her boss at the time even worried how she’d manage all this new business she was bringing in. However, Lowrie-Chin was up to any challenge.

Based on her calibre of work and her experience in such a short time, others began to recognise Lowrie-Chin’s abilities and strategies. During an encounter at the Jamaica Pegasus, she was introduced to Susan Campbell, who noted how she was doing everything on her own and how she wouldn’t take orders from anyone. She asked her why she doesn’t start her own business.

At 27, Chin was given the opportunity to start a business but didn’t have any resources to get going. However, Campbell arranged a meeting for Lowrie-Chin with the general manager of Jamaica Pegasus Peter Westbrook, and she negotiated a contra deal to do PR for the hotel in exchange for space to work. This deal involved Chin providing the hotel with PR services and she’d have an office with utilities paid for as part of the arrangement. Thus, she got room 106 and had one of the best addresses in Kingston.

Thus, on November 29, 1978, Public Relations Operations (PRO) was born. Lowrie-Chin was trading at this time before she officially registered the business PRO Communications Limited on June 30, 1981.

However, when some clients at Dunlop caught a whiff that Lowrie-Chin was going out on her own, they affirmed that they were going with her. She informed them that they’d need to speak with her boss first before they could be contracted to her firm. Guinness followed Chin and signed a contract on December 14, 1978, while Racing Promotions followed after.

As the firm’s business began to grow, so did the need for office space. Lowrie-Chin rented the room next door as she had to hire new staff in her second year of operations. When it came time again to expand, she couldn’t rent any additional rooms at the Pegasus. However, when she dropped one of her co-workers at home one evening on Kingsway, she was informed of a “For Sale” sign on a building on 6 Kingsway. The owners had left Jamaica during the five-flights-a-day saga in the 1970s but had a property in that area of Kingston. Lowrie-Chin was successfully able to acquire 6 Kingsway with PRO Communications making that location its new abode.

“We were there for 34 years now. During that time we adopted a little girl. And then, in 1988, we adopted a little boy. Now I always said that Kingsway was going to be for my daughter. So when my little boy came on in 1988, same year as Gilbert, I said, you know, I need to find somewhere for my little boy. And I’m always checking real estate because we all played Monopoly as children. So we were always into this real estate thing. So I found this place up at Phoenix Avenue, which is where Pro Comm is now. And I just bought it and said I would develop it and move Pro Comm over there. But then I got very busy with a client, Lasco. And I remember at one point, they said they wanted me to actually do a beauty contest. Now, I’m a feminist, and an unapologetic feminist, so I do not do beauty contests. So I told them, ‘Sorry, I don’t do beauty contests.’ “

Lowrie-Chin said, instead, she asked: Why not celebrate our unsung heroes? With that, Lowrie-Chin created the Lasco Teacher of the Year, then the Nurse of the Year. The police awards were added later.

While Lowrie-Chin no longer does PR for Lasco, she said she created the slogan ‘Nutrition never tasted so good’ and ‘Lasco makes living affordable’, which is used by the company’s food division to this day. But it was not just for Lasco. Lowrie-Chin said with GraceKennedy she created the Household Workers of the Year award.

Recalling her promise in the 1980s, when she purchased the property at Kingsway, to go into development, Lowrie-Chin decided to do just that, but with the property at Phoenix Avenue in St Andrew. One of her former students at Calabar was to be the architect.

“I started to think about Phoenix and decided I wanted to put up a commercial complex. I went to my former student and told him I wanted a building that looks ultra-modern. That was developed and that was how Pro Comm Developments started.”

Most of those offices are rented out and Pro Comm now has its headquarters at that location.

“We still have Kingsway. It’s leased out, actually leased to ‘Bridge FM’, but we do have plans to develop Kingsway.” She said she is planning to partner with a young developer to build apartments.

But dialling back, Lowrie-Chin reflected on her time working with Digicel on its launch in 2001.

“Let me tell you the story. In September 2000 I got a call from somebody with an Irish accent, and the person said we asked about PR companies in Jamaica and we were given three names, and you are not one of them. Anyway, he said, ‘However, I went to dinner last night with an executive and he said if you do not use Pro Comm, you will be making a big mistake.’ And so they said to me, and we need your presentation within 24 hours.“

Lowrie-Chin said that man was Seamus Lynch, who was to be the first CEO of Digicel. He was parried around the media to sell the plans for a second mobile operator in Jamaica, but things weren’t going well for the launch. Lowrie-Chin said she contacted the then minister with responsibility for the telecoms sector Phillip Paulwell, who helped with the process.

In April 2001 Digicel was launched to much fanfare. This heralded a war which benefited media entities. Digicel itself surpassed its target for consumers. The company targeted 100,000 customers over a few years but achieved that in a few months.

But PR would not hold Lowrie-Chin, and on the 30th anniversary of the company, she said a decision was made to create a legacy project.

“And I looked around and I said, ‘You know the most underserved set of people in Jamaica are our seniors.’ I said let me start something for seniors. And thus CCRP, the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons, started.”

“CCRP now has over 12,000 members from all over Jamaica. We now have a television show that comes on, on a Sunday afternoon. We also have a radio show that also comes out on a Sunday afternoon. Best time for our seniors. We have all sorts of advocacy programmes and a lot of outreach. We partnered with the police officers to give out packages to the indigent elderly. And what has really sustained CCRP is Pro Comm’s marketing skill. You know, I think if we did not have the communications and marketing, we would not have come so far.”

Among the achievements of CCRP is bringing health insurance to people over the age of 60 who could not get insurance otherwise. This was provided by Sagicor Life.

That aside, Lowrie-Chin was also instrumental in starting Flair magazine in The Gleaner each Monday and has been a contributor to the Jamaica Observer for the past 20 years.

“Last year, December the fifth, was my 20th anniversary of my column in the Jamaica Observer. I love to write and it’s a sacrifice because I have so many different things doing, but I just love to write and I love to celebrate people, passion. If you notice in my column, I try as much as possible to be balanced and always try to solve to some positives because this is a great country. And I think the most important thing about Pro Comm is that we are passionately Jamaican. The other one is follow through sets us apart.

Among her many roles these days is chairing the Digicel Foundation in which the philanthropic work of the telecoms company is done throughout the region and includes building schools in Haiti.