Garment manufacturers find ways to survive covid19 pandemic

Business

Elizabeth Gonzales

23 Minutes Ago

Two garment manufacturing companies have found ways to overcome obstacles brought on by the covid19 pandemic.

Santa Cruz-based Cruz Garments allowed its seamstresses to work from home, while Lazuri Apparel Ltd in Barataria made face-masks.

Cruz Garments has 40 employees, mostly women, and supplies uniforms to several organisations, including the police.

When daycares closed owing to public health restrictions, the owner of Cruz Garments, Lilla Williams, decided the best way to accommodate the mothers was to allow them to work from home.

Eight seamstresses were given sewing machines and other equipment so that they can look after their children while working.

Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon applauded Williams for this initiative and encouraged more businesses to accommodate female employees unable to find help to monitor their children.

“It’s just quite interesting that those single mothers in particular that are at home and raising their children during the day and doing their duties. They’re actually doing the same output as people who are in the garment factory,” she said during a tour of Cruz Garments on Wednesday.

“It’s quite innovative, quite creative to think of creating employment and getting women, particularly single mothers working. We’re always concerned about that. I’ve never heard of anything like that and it’s quite interesting and exciting.”

On her next stop at Lazuri Apparel, the minister learned the company, a supplier of women’s blouses, shoes, jackets and shirts, only began in early 2020. It is also the Van Heusen franchise holder in the Caribbean.

CEO Roger Roach said covid19 was a hard blow to the then two month old business. And the only way the business survived was with funds generated through manufacturing cloth masks.

“We manufactured a huge amount of face masks for several companies in the country and regionally. I keep one of each mask from the companies we manufactured masks for, as a reminder of how we survived in 2020,” he said.

The company now sells three washable and reversible masks packaged and available at stores across the country. Roger plans to expand and provide employment for up to 200 more employees.

Gopee-Scoon told the business owners there was a success factor in the garment industry that has the potential to return to where it was 50 years ago. “This is why we thought we could come back and look at it, and it’s a quick way for employment generation…We are looking at all different aspects of getting the manufacturing sector going again.”

The ministry launched a tour of the garment companies last Thursday, exploring the needs and identifying the gaps to establish solutions to strengthen the sector.

The tour started at Janouras Custom Design Ltd in Chaguanas where the minister applauded managing director George Janoura for his use of technology to improve the quality of corporate uniforms.

TT Manufacturers Association president Franka Costelloe said the tour was a good way for garment manufacturers to grow.

“It’s also important that we can then take some of the experiences that Janouras would have had, and then advise Cruz Garments and inspire Cruz Garments to then reach to that level. So by using technology we’re increasing employment by doubling production, increasing export revenue generation so the country improvement as well,” she said.