Mr. Ross Gardner, Managing Director of Carasco & Son, is the new President of the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.
He was elected President at the Chamber’s 139th Annual General Meeting held on November 29th, 2023 at the Sandals Grande Ballroom, under the theme “The Driving Force for Sustainable Business and Community Prosperity for St. Lucia’.
Mr. Gardner succeeds Mr. Trevor Louisy former Managing Director of the St. Lucia Electricity Services Company Ltd., and now Chairman of the Water and Sewerage Company.
The Outgoing President of the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Louisy, did not seek re-election after serving the traditional two one-year terms. Mr. Gardner has previously served as FIRST Vice President to Mr. Louisy and has been on the Chamber Board since 2015.
The Open Session of the Annual General Meeting featured two presenters. The first was the Ambassador of the Mexican United States to St. Lucia and the OECS, His Excellency Manuel Lopez Moreno, and his Trade Team from Mexico, and the second Mr. Rodrigo da Costa Fonseca, Manager for Strategic Affairs of Apex Brasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency.
Both presenters spoke to the issue of “Exploring Opportunities to increase trade with Latin America as a Strategy to bring better and more stable supply of goods and prices to St. Lucia Consumers.”
The 139th AGM was sponsored by Real Foods Ltd., the operators of KFC in St. Lucia. During the Closed Session of the Meeting the Executive Director’s and the Auditor’s Report were presented. This was followed by the Election of the Board of Directors. This election was highly contested and saw the election of several Business Executives as first-time Directors to the Chamber Board.
The new Board of Directors of the Chamber are:
• President – Ross Gardner, Managing Director, Carasco and Son
• 1st Vice President – Nicholas Barnard, Managing Director, St. Lucia Linen
• 2nd Vice President – Jason King, Chief Financial Officer, St. Lucia Distillers Group of Companies
• Immediate Past President – Trevor Louisy Chairman WASCO
• Director – Cheryl Renwick, Managing Director, Renwick and Company
• Director – Louise Victor, Corporate Affairs Manager, Heineken Saint Lucia
• Director – Gidden Augustin, Managing Director, islandTEK
• Director – Deborah Edward, General Manager SOL EC LTD St. Lucia & Dominica
• Director – Rhon Stephens, Executive Director, Hewanorra Air Cargo Services
• Director – Omari Frederick, Corporate Communications Manager, LUCELEC
• Director – Eldris Mauricette, Island Manager, Tropical Shipping
The new Board has already scheduled their first meeting and have indicated their excitement and enthusiasm to serve the Chamber and the wider business community.