By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Striping, a grant-winning company from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture's Self-Starter Programme, is on its way to becoming the leading striping company in the Bahamas, its president said yesterday, telling Tribune Business the company was positioning itself to secure a number of large scale projects this year. It recently purchased a new thermoplastic trailer, which according to Bahamas Striping president Atario Mitchell came with an $80,000 price tag. He explained that the new machine would allow the company to undertake even bigger projects. "The new machine is a thermoplastic trailer. It can hold 3,000 pounds of thermoplastic. That will help me get jobs at a more faster pace. It puts my company one step closer to becoming the leading striping company in the Bahamas. We now have the machines needed to correctly stripe all the roads and parking lots to the correct standards," Mr Mitchell added. "When I got the contract to stripe the parking lot at South Land Shopping Centre, the machine that I was using only could hold 250 pounds of thermoplastic, and when it is empty it would take about 30 minutes to refill it. "With that method this project took us 14 days to complete, but if we did have this machine that holds 3,000 pounds of thermoplastic material, the job would of only taken us between four to six days for us to complete. "With this new machine and our new UK-certified striper, our company is now capable of handling projects like the Airport Gateway Project, the roadworks at the new National Stadium, the New Providence Road Improvement Project and any other project that comes up and will be in need of road striping." Mr Mitchell said the company was looking to get "a piece of the pie" with some work on the massive New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP), and was also hoping to secure at least six other projects both in New Providence and the Family Islands, the new national stadium being among them. Mr Mitchell said that since receiving the self-starter grant two years ago, his company has gotten an overwhelming response from the Government. "The response has been overwhelming. I currently have eight full time employees an four part-time employees," he added.