Elias group celebrates 60 years

HAVING completed over $7 billion worth of construction projects in 11 countries, the Emile Elias Group of Companies is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

The company's construction projects have ranged from housing, hospitals, schools and hotels, helping shape modern infrastructure in the Caribbean.

"At 60, we’re not just maintaining a legacy, we’re revolutionising it," said 88-year-old chairman and founder Emile Elias during a gala on July 5 at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

The gala was attended by Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles and THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, among others.

"Every project is an opportunity to contribute to development. Whether it's a hotel creating jobs, a school educating young minds or a hospital providing healthcare, we are actively engaged in building our collective future."

Deputy chairwoman Charlotte Elias said the company has shifted toward sustainable and tech-driven construction.

"Our future depends on how well we respond to climate change, resource limits and widening socio-economic gaps.

"Our collective future is deeply intertwined with our sector’s ability, both locally and regionally, to respond to the realities of climate change, particularly here in the Caribbean, our planet’s finite resources, our ageing populations and the ever-widening socio-economic gaps in our beloved region.

"These realities have fuelled our pursuit of more innovative construction methodologies, further embracing technology and considering sustainability in all that we do, ensuring that we design services and products with solutions to these and related problems in mind."

Director of HR, communications and corporate secretarial services, Michelle Clarke said, "As you've heard countless times before, together we are on a strategic journey of transformation at every level of this company. And I trust that through our actions, we have made it clear that people are the heart of it. We are investing in you, our people, with the same dedication that you have invested in this group."

The group said its "people-centred approach" is reflected in its diversity policies, emphasis on hard and soft skills training, leadership development initiatives and a robust internship programme.

The group, which includes NH International (Caribbean) Ltd and Weathershield Systems Caribbean Ltd, has earned the Contractor of the Year title in TT more than seven times and stands as one of the region’s largest locally owned contracting firms, evolving from a single-man operation on Queen Street in Port of Spain.

"In my 88 years, I’ve learned there’s no such thing as the good old days," Emile Elias said. "There’s only our ability to adapt, innovate and evolve."

The group also held a long-service awards ceremony at the Anchorage, Chaguaramas for more than 65 of its employees.

The ceremony included a performance from the band Freetown Collective.