By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A GRAND Bahama concrete plant’s $7.1m investment is “well worth it” despite exceeding budget given the “impeccable” timing of yesterday’s ready-mix production launch.

Glennett Fowler, also FowlCo’s president and chief executive, told Tribune Business that the original $6.2m budget for Heroic Concrete and Concrete Products was breached by $900,000 or 14.5 percent through the acquisition of additional equipment “to keep up with market demand” for the new operator’s products.

And, with “light at the end of the tunnel” for Grand Bahama’s economy via multi-million dollar investments by the likes of Grand Bahama Shipyard and Carnival Cruise Lines, she asserted that the production start could not be better timed given the demand these developments and others will have for mass concrete quantities.

Revealing that the operation, a subsidiary of the Heroic Group, has already established a six-strong distribution network throughout The Bahamas to take its products to other islands, Mrs Fowler told this newspaper it plans to rapidly ramp-up to block production within the next 45-60 days so that it will have material ready to enter the market on May 1.

Hitting this date depends on having the necessary inspection and product testing facilities in place and operational, with Heroic aiming for all its production output to meet American Concrete Institute certified standards and PSI thresholds that affirm its strength and quality.

Providing these benchmarks are met, Mrs Fowler said the anticipated imminent start of block production will likely double the concrete operation’s present 19-strong workforce to close to 40 with further product and geographic expansion to come once the necessary relationships and logistical infrastructure is in place.

“Production actually started today [yesterday]. We launched today and I feel positive. I feel encouraged just because of the climate in Grand Bahama right now,” Mrs Fowler said. “Based on the response that persons have been getting as they saw the plant going up they seem eager to work with us.

“I think it’s good to have a bit more supply for the demand that will be on the island. We’re excited to get started and the team is ready and prepared to get going. While it might have looked kind of questionable at the time we started work on this, I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel in Grand Bahama.

“Most of what we see are viable projects already underway or will shortly be underway. I think the timing is impeccable to be honest with you. The block plant is especially timely. We don’t have anyone with the capacity to produce blocks on the scale we will be. We’ve already set up a distribution network of persons who have reached out to us wanting to be distributors. Right now, it’s at six.”

Heroic Concrete and Concrete Products previously said it will have the capacity to produce up to 1,700 concrete blocks daily, and operate for 24 hours per day, and in a statement yesterday it added that its fully-automated batching plant can batch up to 130 cubic yards per hour.

With ready-mix concrete the initial focus, Mrs Fowler yesterday said block production “should be online within the next 45-60 days” once the inspection and testing facility is set-up and ready. “We’re right there,” she said. “All the equipment has got to be calibrated by the manufacturer. They’ll be coming into Freeport in the next two weeks, and we will have our own testing laboratory.

“Our key team members are [American Concrete Institute] certified as well. That’s a plus for us. We want to ensure we’re operating in international standards while we’re already taking all these measures to ramp up quickly in the market.”

Mrs Fowler told Tribune Business that, while Heroic’s concrete plant operation has breached its original $6.2m budget, the extra investment was more than justified. “We’ve exceeded our budget. We’re running at $7.1m on the concrete plant,” she revealed. “We ramped up on the whole Heroic side and are about $7.1m in.

“We would have brought additional equipment in to keep up with the demand in the market already. It’s well worth it. I think the market will respond well to what we’re bringing. Right now, we have 19 persons already on staff for the first part of the business. We anticipate the remainder of the team joining when the block part comes up.”

Mrs Fowler said Heroic, as a group, has been exploiting “cross-training opportunities” afforded by the concrete plant and hired persons for its trucking arm to support logistics and the delivery network. “We’re an ecosystem right now and the team has grown about 20 percent,” she added, revealing that the block plant’s start could spark another 20 hires and double the concrete operation’s workforce to around 40.

“It’s based on how fast the market responds, but that’s where we are going by the end of our financial year at end-June,” the Heroic chief explained. “We are expecting that blocks will be in the market by May 1 due to the fact we will have testing and all other facilities ready. We will have calibration and testing and curing. We have about 12-15 persons coming in to make that plant operational and the team fully trained.”

After the block plant, Mrs Fowler said pre-cast concrete products is the next segment targeted for production launch - likely in the second half of 2024 or 2025. “That’s still to be determined based on how our team becomes more efficient at the main two operations,” she added of the pre-cast launch date.

“We will try, over the last six months of this year, to make sure everything we set out to do is up to standard so we’re more likely to launch that phase of the business in 2025.” Mrs Fowler signalled that Heroic is also interested in developing products that meet carbon footprint neutrality requirements, and is aiming for expansion beyond The Bahamas when the time is right.

“I’m already in talks about certain expansion opportunities with certain persons that have reached out,” she revealed, while not providing any details. “The nature of how we designed the plant, and making sure the design of this plant was on an international scale, we got attention from different regions. Once we can keep costs relative from a production standpoint I imagine we will have a good regional business in a few years.”

Pledging to “be meticulous in ensuring we guard our image, our brand with the right reputation”, Mrs Fowler said customer service and delivery were priorities and she is “trying to fine tune this so we do not jeopardise the product” on the drive to customers by providing cameras and other devices that enables them to track progress.

Heroic’s concrete manufacturing plant launch coincides with potential real estate, resort and related infrastructure projects coming to fruition in Grand Bahama and elsewhere in The Bahamas. On the former, there is Carnival’s $200m Grand Port project; Weller Development’s $250m Six Senses resort and Barbary Town new town; the potential Royal Caribbean/ITM project at Freeport Harbour; a new eco-resort near Holmes Point; and, maybe down the road, the Grand Lucayan.

If all goes to plan, there will be a significant demand for concrete and related products on Grand Bahama alone. Western Atlantic University’s School of Medicine expansion is also poised to move forward, as is Doctor’s Hospital’s new Freeport medical facility and a new public hospital for Grand Bahama.

Heroic will be competing directly with Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM), which has recently expanded its own Grand Bahama concrete plant, and is part of the Grand Bahama International Airport winning bid. However, it is also entering at a time when a vacuum has been created by the exit of the Del Zottos and Gold Rock Corporation.