The Chamber’s 9th Annual Business Hall of Fame

When the Chamber began this initiative in 2005, it was born out of what we felt to be a major void in the local business landscape; namely, recognition of the role of business in the overall development of Trinidad and Tobago. What better way, than to bring attention to the tremendous, and often silent contribution that our local business men and women have made to our national development, than to recognise the individuals who have worked assiduously to succeed, in their various areas of enterprise, oftentimes giving back through philanthropic work to the society whose challenges they overcame.

Since then, the Chamber’s event has grown from strength to strength as we recognise and showcase role models in business and highlight their successes. Whilst success in business is often narrowly seen as simply flowing profits and industry respect, the Chamber’s Business Hall of Fame recognises that true success as businesspeople goes far beyond this. Success in business, while not easy to attain, can be sustained through adherence to the principles of strong corporate governance, and making sacrifice, resilience and creativity the cornerstone of all initiatives. Even more so, success transcends generations, and creates a business and brand that becomes interwoven into the fabric of society.

The inductees therefore meet the Chamber’s definition of success, through the outstanding contributions they have made to our country as a whole.

In the past eight years the Chamber has inducted 20 businessmen and women both living and posthumously into our Business Hall of Fame. This year, we will be again honouring three more worthy pioneers of the private sector.

The Chamber must also recognise the foresight and commitment of First Citizens, which has been our exclusive sponsor and partnered with the Chamber to sponsor this event since 2007. The Business Hall of Fame has indeed gained a place as a signature event on the country’s business calendar.

This year the Chamber is pleased to say we will be making other levels of sponsorship opportunities available to a wider cross-section of businesses.

The Chamber is pleased to have confirmed as the Feature Speaker of the event, Mr Brendan Paddick – Chairman and CEO of Columbus International Incorporation – a company which operates extensively throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. With his experience in the region, Mr Paddick will be speaking on the theme: “Maximising Business Development Opportunities in the Caribbean Basin.” The Chamber thanks Columbus Business Solutions for making this possible.

It is the Chamber’s hope that the stories of these 23 Inductees will provide inspiration to others – to take risks, to strive for excellence, and to set high ethical standards. Many of the Hall of Fame inductees have been recipients of various National awards and later this year, it will once again be the Chamber’s privilege to pay tribute to three icons of business.