Nation Builders – GRACE COLEMAN

Elizabeth Pridgeon

A problem cited by many as contributing to disintegrating social values within Belize today is a certain reluctance among younger generations to contribute to their communities and find gainful employment.  All of us know dozens of perfectly-abled teenagers who prefer to sit at home and watch ‘novelas’ rather than adventure, explore and experience the employment sector.  A generation or two ago, that kind of indolent behaviour was not accepted, least of all by recent migrant communities who sought to sustain themselves and their families in their new homeland of Belize.

One such family was that of Ms Grace Coleman, who today is known throughout southern Belizean as an entrepreneurial force to be reckoned with!  But the accumulated success of Ms. Grace is entirely a product of her determination and persistent hard work over the years, which resulted in one of the most popular restaurant and hotel establishments in all of Punta Gorda.

Ms. Grace’s family emigrated from Guatemala when she was just twelve years old.  By the age of 14, Ms. Grace’s parents expected her to contribute towards the family’s earnings, and she found a job within a dry goods store relatively quickly.  She worked her way progressively through various stores in Punta Gorda town, and ultimately was working evenings in associated restaurants too, which gave her excellent experience in the catering industry as well as the retail sector.

In October 1979, Ms. Grace was full of ambition but lacking financial resources, and she began dabbling in the lottery in the hope of winning just enough to establish her own retail business.  Four months later, Ms. Grace won one of the jackpots, and followed her ambition and invested the money wisely.  The first money-making initiative that Ms Grace implemented was developing the poultry industry in Punta Gorda, which until then had featured a remarkable shortage of chicken products on sale.  Ms. Grace travelled to Belmopan to apply for a licence to import chicken from Guatemala, and upon receipt of this permission, Ms. Grace imported her first batch of Guatemalan chickens to Punta Gorda: a grand total of 51 pounds!  Amazed by the popularity and feasibility of her idea (before long selling up to 800 pounds of chicken every day), it was not long before Ms. Grace’s parents’ property was not big enough to support her enterprise, and in October 1980, Ms. Grace rented her first independent property on Front Street.  She complimented her chicken sales with ideals (for she was still one of the minority of Punta Gorda citizens who had a freezer) and gradually began stocking other dry goods, especially clothes.

Travelling up to Belize City was exhausting for Ms. Grace, who would be away for over 24 hours merely to replenish her stocks of shoes, clothing and fashion accessories.  However, her outstanding record of payment encouraged several big wholesale shops in the City to establish a credit account for Ms. Grace, which meant that she could order products to be delivered, and pay for them upon receipt.  She found great business support from Guatemalan traders, who docked in Punta Gorda in order to stock their boats with modern items that were largely unavailable at the time in nearby Guatemalan towns.

By this time, Ms. Grace had divided her retail businesses, separating food produce from dry goods, and employing certain assistants to help run the business.  However, the economic downturn in the early 1990s forced Ms. Grace to discontinue the sale of chicken and instead focus on improving the sales of dry goods.  Unfazed by the hazards and hard work involved, Ms. Grace acquired a small van in order to transport her goods throughout the district, travelling as far away as Placencia, Hopkins, Georgetown and Bella Vista in order to continue earning sufficient to support her growing family.

Once Ms Grace’s trade had picked up again, she was expedient to invest her money into another enterprise to ensure continued financial turn-over.  In 1992, Ms Grace sought a loan in order to purchase a property to create her own hotel. This she did, and marvels at how it attracted customers within its early years, but she recognised a fault in Punta Gorda which would not encourage visitors to stay: a shortage of restaurants, and the complete closure of all restaurants on Sundays and Public Holidays.  Always eager to provide quality service, Ms. Grace pondered this predicament for several years, and by 1997 she opened her own restaurant adjacent to her hotel.  Although the eatery began by selling traditional Belizean dishes and seafood, demand quickly extended the menu to include a wide selection of international cuisine.

And so, despite having worked for the best part of half a century in Punta Gorda retail and hospitality sectors, Ms. Grace is as eager to please her customers today as ever, and she is continually on the look out for new enterprising initiatives that may prove financially beneficial for her and her family in the future.  Ms. Grace should be held high as an inspiration for the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of youth today who lack the ambition and drive to seek employment and independently sustain themselves.  Without hard-working characters like Ms. Grace Coleman, there is no doubt that Belize wouldn’t boast the productive industries that have become synonymous with the country today.  For this contribution to the development of various service industries in Punta Gorda, therefore, Ms. Grace may be appreciated as a Nation Builder of Belize.

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