2016 has been an astounding year for the astute businessman behind National Baking Company, CEO Gary “Butch” Hendrickson, with his most recent accolade being the Jamaica Observer Business Leader Award for corporate philanthropy. Hendrickson’s 2016 efforts were firmly focused on enhancing early childhood education and supporting local manufacturers.
In 2015, Butch, who is a firm believer in education at the earliest level, joined with Cari-Med/Kirk Distributors Foundation, the CHASE Fund and other public/private organizations to build a state of the art early childhood institution in Union Gardens in Delacree Park, St Andrew. The project, valued at $175 million, is the first public/private partnership of its kind in the country. The institution opened its doors in January this year with 150 students.
“The Union Gardens project was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. Education is something that is very close to my heart, being able to provide the children with a child centred environment that targets the development of children at that stage in life is truly rewarding,” Hendrickson said. The institution caters to children from three to six years old.
Hendrickson continued his 2016 philanthropic pursuits with another move aimed towards the empowerment of local manufacturers; The Bold Ones 2016. The Bold Ones: Champions of Manufacturing initiative returned for the fourth time in April, recognizing seven new manufacturers for their use of natural resources, tax compliance and labour market impact. The Bold Ones: Champions of Manufacturing initiative was designed to support and encourage recently established Jamaican manufacturers to position themselves as world leaders. It spans five industries: agro, food, garment, chemical manufacturing and health or beauty.
As part of the recognition, the awardees were granted a promotional package which includes their exhibits at the JMA-JEA Expos and the mobile advertisements of their production lines featured on the sides of the National Bakery trucks. Since its inception in 2010, Hendrickson has sponsored approximately $120 million, endorsing and marketing courageous Jamaican visionaries through the initiative.
Hendrickson strengthened his commitment to early childhood education again in August when National Baking Company Foundation partnered with the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) to launch the ‘Little Leaders Programme’, an initiative targeting children between the ages of three to six years old to minimize the disparity in learning of children within this age bracket. The program supports overall literacy and provides a special focus in the areas of Mathematics and Science. The Little Leaders programme provides learning kits containing crayons, paper, blocks, balls, scissors, puppets, puzzles, paint, brushes, play dough, glue sticks and other manipulatives to more than 2,500 institutions registered with the ECC. The contents of these kits were said to help to promote and develop specific skill sets necessary for this pivotal learning stage.
Additionally, the programme features a mobile classroom, dubbed ‘Training Wheels’ which hosted workshops across the island, led by full-time education consultant Kerry-Ann Henry. The Little Leaders Learning Kits were packaged and distributed in September with the Training Wheels rolling out in October.
Under National’s innovative programme to support manufacturing, A Jamaican Made Christmas returned for its second staging last month. Sixty Six local manufacturers participated in the two days shopping experience which saw over two thousand shoppers and exhibitors making over $9 million, at no additional cost to them.
The shopping village, set up at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, featured manufacturers from all across Jamaica plying their wares to eager shoppers looking to grab their christmas gifts early. Products ranged from jewellery and apparel to furniture and food. The event, according to Hendrickson, was an overwhelming success, the kind that no one could have predicted.
One of the things affecting local manufacturers is the lack of capital to properly market their brands and products and get their names out there. We have top quality products in Jamaica but a lot of people just don’t know about them. And that is what we aimed to do at Jamaican Made Christmas. We wanted to give local manufacturers a platform to stand on and also encourage Jamaicans to buy more local products by bringing the producers together in one place where everything could be on display,Hendrickson said
Hendrickson’s hard work and dedication to early childhood education and local manufacturing did not go unnoticed in 2016 as, in addition to the Jamaica Observer Business Leader Award for corporate philanthropy, Hendrickson was inducted into the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) Hall of Fame in August and was awarded the American Friends of Jamaica International Humanitarian Award at the The 2016 Hummingbird Gala and Benefit in New York in October.
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