Kingston, Jamaica – GraceKennedy Group CEO Don Wehby has described as a huge success, the third annual GraceKennedy Money Services/Western Union Town Hall Forum Series, which took the company to three locations in the United States and Canada over one week. The Series was held under the theme “Caribbean Diaspora, Borderless Possibilities”.
The tour began on May 4 in Brooklyn, New York, after which the team went to Toronto, Canada, with the final stop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At each venue, hundreds of Jamaicans and members of the Caribbean diaspora gathered to hear about the company’s plans and growth across the world, along with question and answer sessions from audience members. There was also a media breakfast in each market, where members of the Caribbean and mainstream media came out to meet with the company’s representatives.
Across the markets, GraceKennedy Group CEO, Don Wehby spoke to the company’s position in and outlook for each market, its strategy for growth and its corporate social responsibility initiatives. Western Union representative Sean Mason, who heads up the Caribbean region – the first Caribbean national to do so – spoke to similar areas for the remittance entity. Both gentlemen outlined the work their companies were doing in the area of education, which Mr Wehby called the “game changer for moving the region forward”. According to him, lack of attention to and investment in education would cause the region to experience the same issues it currently faces in ten, or even twenty years.
“It was really a special opportunity for us to engage our customers and consumers in these markets,” said Wehby. He continued, “Our diaspora market supports GraceKennedy in an incredible way, and to be able to sit with them and get their feedback on our company and the way forward, is really an opportunity we sincerely value.” Mr Wehby also spoke to the positive reception of the forum’s keynote speaker, Former PM PJ Patterson, who shared his vision as to how Caribbean nations can unite to move the region forward.
According to the former Prime Minister, “We’ve spent our lives building other nations across the world, it’s time we unite now to build our own nations, and our region.”
The Town Hall Forums are staged through GraceKennedy’s Money Services arm, GraceKennedy Money Services along with their partners of 25 years, Western Union.
“This was a very successful town hall tour. We are very encouraged from the response of our Caribbean diaspora and we are grateful to them for their support. We know that with their support, we will continue to grow from strength to strength,” said Mr Wehby.
