The rains may have brought other forms of business activity to a shuddering halt but for Ghamandi & Sons Enterprises it is an uncharacteristically busy period.
The Enmore-based business enterprise which specializes in fabricating and building a wide array of equipment and machinery, is busy designing, building and delivering water pumps to help respond to the floods that pose an imminent threat to the current rice crop. For the farmers seeking out Ghamandi & Sons, the service that offered is a godsend in circumstances where the option of importing the heavy-duty pumps that suit their purpose is infeasible.
Bob Ghamandi, the owner of the enterprise, is a garrulous but intense businessman who understands the role his company is playing in helping to take the Guyana economy forward. He speaks with an evident pride about the services he offers to critical industries, like the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) which he has supplied with water pumps for sugar estates. Players in the rapidly expanding gold-mining sector have also approached his company to help supply its equipment needs, principally, high-pressure vacuum pumps used in the soil extraction process.
What makes Ghamandi & Sons a popular option for business enterprises seeking engineering solutions is the fact that he manufactures products to order, embracing the specific design requirements of his customers. “Off the shelf” purchases often mean that the piece of equipment must be adapted to suit the task.
A machinist and engineer by profession, the Port Mourant-born Ghamandi returned to Guyana two years ago after residing in the United States for 20 years. His return coincided with the crippling financial and economic crisis in the United States, which forced hundreds of companies out of business and triggered his decision to return to Guyana where he anticipated a more favourable business climate. Ghamandi, who studied design and fabrication in New York, spoke about his 11-year tenure manufacturing components required by the US Space Agency NASA and the military and commercial complexes in the United States. These days, his clients include enterprises which, in the Guyana context, are comparable to those in the United States. GuySuCo apart, Ghamandi has also filled orders for Demerara Distillers Ltd, Edward B Beharry, Sterling Products, gold mining operations and some large local rice-farming operations.
Where particularly specialized pieces of equipment are required Bob Ghamandi works with his clients “from scratch,” from rough drawings which they put before him or simply from ideas which he converts into designs. “From there I can go to the machines and make it in any type of material,” he said.
His sojourn in the United States has laid the foundation for what he concedes is now a profitable business enterprise. As an employee in the manufacturing industry he quickly became aware of the high demand for manufactured steel equipment and machinery and it was this that led him to establish own company in Florida, a ‘go-for-broke’ investment which, he says, included his wife’s wedding ring.
Established in 2001, in Florida HIGHVAC Company filled both specialist and off-the-shelf orders for vacuum components originating in the United States and Canada. Additionally, the company established a reputation for manufacturing custom-machined components for the semi-conductor, bellows and high vacuum sectors in the US. Specialist in design and fabrication from stainless steel, HIGHVAC built equipment for the food and beverage industry in the US.
He is unequivocal about the fact that his decision to return to Guyana and to invest here has been vindicated. His investment of close to US$1 million approximately in relocating his machinery and equipment in Guyana and the subsequent acquisition of land and construction of premises at Enmore has, he says, been well worth the while. Quite apart from operating a profitable enterprise, Bob Ghamandi is living his boyhood dream.
Nor are there any elaborate frills to a company which is production-oriented. Gahmandi & Sons employs 12 persons – welders, fabricators, machinists, engineers and an employee who is being trained in the use of computerized equipment. Ghamandi himself is no desk-bound executive. He manages the operation from the ground floor where, along with his employees, he immerses himself in the production process.
Not that his venture has been without its challenges. His final decision to return here in 2010 was preceded by a painstaking two-week market survey and risk analysis that involved, principally, engaging prospective clients. Such challenges as he has had to face since commencing operations here include delays in delivery of materials from overseas and rising costs which create a knock-on effect on the costs of his own finished products. In those circumstances some local companies have pursued the option of undertaking their own importation of finished machinery.
Ghamandi’s fabricating skills have led to orders for a range of other products including boats, stages, trailers for trucks and various household appliances all of which lend an element of profitable diversification to his company.
Plans for further investment are diversified, not confined, necessarily, to the company which he currently owns. Ghamandi had discovered that fishing communities along the East Coast must place orders for ice in which to store their catch at least a week prior to delivery. “In the near future,” he plans to invest in an entity that provides ice to the fisherfolk. “Apart from that,” he says, “we’ll just see what happens in the future.”
