The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce has launched the Lawrence Placide Award for Excellence in Services.<\/p>\n
According to TTCIC chief executive officer Vashti Guyadeen, the award will go to companies, organisations, or individuals whose work shows leadership, innovation, and measurable results, particularly in expanding markets, encouraging regional collaboration, and maintaining high ethical standards.<\/p>\n
The award honours the legacy of Lawrence Placide, a former director and founder of the chamber\u2019s international trade negotiations unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe understood that the Caribbean future would not only be built on goods we produce, but on the services we deliver, our intellect, creativity, and capacity to connect the world to the Caribbean. Under his leadership, that unit became a catalyst for regional cooperation with a vision of winning in global markets,\u201d Guyadeen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, Lawrence has left us, but this award ensures that his vision lives on, recognising those who raise the bar in service excellence and champion Caribbean growth as a unified, competitive region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Guyadeen made the statement as the TTCIC held its Champions of Business 2025 awards.<\/p>\n
TTCIC president Sonji Pierre-Chase reflected on the TTCIC\u2019s two decades of honouring contributions to the nation\u2019s economic landscape.<\/p>\n
She recalled her own journey with the chamber, which began in 2005 as a young staff member at the Secretariat, noting that it was then the idea to honour exceptional business people was first conceived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe conceptualised a Hall of Fame and held a simple ceremony at the Secretariat to induct our first Hall of Famer. Fast forward two decades, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, it would not have been envisioned then that I would be standing here today to induct business leaders who have excelled, and to honour categories including small entrepreneurs under five years in business who have demonstrated resilience, and medium enterprises who have shown consistency, sustainability, and leadership,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She also acknowledged the importance of collaboration, referencing partnerships with Latin American and Central American markets to create new opportunities for members. Addressing the Minister of Trade and Investment\u2019s agenda to increase exports by $2 billion in two years and $5 billion in five years, she assured him of the chamber\u2019s readiness to work with the public sector to realise this vision. Pierre-Chase further paid tribute to former chamber president Kiran Maharaj for her role in producing the evening\u2019s programme, noting that her contribution \u201cgoes beyond work\u2014it is a sacrifice that ensures we celebrate our success stories properly\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bertram Manhin and<\/p>\n
Germaine Scott inducted<\/p>\n
into Hall of Fame<\/p>\n
Two chamber Hall of Fame inductees, La Vega Estate founder Bertram Manhin and chairman of AP Scott Trinidad Ltd Germaine Scott, shared their feelings receiving this award.<\/p>\n
Manhin said, \u201cIt really a humbling experience and it is really hard to explain the feeling when you are placed on the same stage as the people who are very distinguished business leaders in T&T. Whatever success I did have would not be without the support of my family, in-laws, friends and most importantly, my wife, who is my rock and fortress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott echoed the sentiment of gratitude, focusing on family and the team that made his achievements possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn behalf of my family, our employees and everyone who has been a part of this journey, I could not have done it without you. I never began with big dreams of awards or recognition. I simply worked hard against all odds to make sure my family was fed and that my children received a good education. What started in my living room has grown into something much greater by far than [what] I could imagine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Novo Farms continued to make waves in the agribusiness sector by winning the Innovation Award, which Glen Ramdhani, executive chairman of the Novo Group of Companies, said helps the team \u201ccontinue to go on\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ramdhani also shared in a media interview that Novo Farms has ambitious plans: \u201cWe are in expansion mode right now. We\u2019re expanding our plants, where we will be able to process almost four tonnes per hour\u2014five times the current capacity. We\u2019re also looking to construct a new facility in Barbados.\u201d<\/p>\n
2025 TTCIC Awards highlights:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Business Hall of Fame (sponsored by Kallco Ltd): Germaine Scott (AP Scott Trinidad Ltd), Bertram Manhin (La Vega Estate)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Entrepreneurship Award (Republic Bank Ltd): Musical Instruments of T&T Company Ltd (MITTCO)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Green Agenda Award (Proman Trinidad): Slimdown 360 Ltd<\/p>\n
\u2022 Internationally Known\u2026T&T-owned Company of the Year (Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism): Caribbean Airlines Ltd<\/p>\n
\u2022 Breakthrough Exporter of the Year (EXIMBANK T&T Ltd): Christle Ltd<\/p>\n
\u2022 Innovation Award (bmobile Business): Novo Farms<\/p>\n
\u2022 SME Awards (Republic Bank Ltd):<\/p>\n
\u2022 Small Business of the Year: Coded Arts<\/p>\n
\u2022 Medium-Sized Business of the Year: Ecliff Elie Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce has launched the Lawrence Placide Award for Excellence in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[114,293,85,46,564],"class_list":{"0":"post-139074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-local"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}