Sun | Dec 7, 2025

Ground broken for St Elizabeth’s first tech park

Undertaking set to launch BPO operation in parish

Published:Monday | March 21, 2022 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
From left: Withney Smith-Currie (partially hidden), councillor for the Brompton Divison of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation; Floyd Green, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister; Derrick Sangster, mayor of Black River; Alanso M
Herbert McKenis
From left: Withney Smith-Currie (partially hidden), councillor for the Brompton Divison of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation; Floyd Green, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister; Derrick Sangster, mayor of Black River; Alanso McKoy, chief executive officer of Mint Technologies; Andrew Parker, a member of the Black River Chamber of Commerce; and Carlton Brown, a land developer, breaking ground on Friday for the construction of Black River Tech Park, which will be home to 30,000 square feet of business process outsourcing facilities.

WESTERN BUREAU:

LOCAL INVESTORS Mint Technologies have broken ground to establish the Black River Tech Park, consisting of a 30,000-square-foot space to facilitate start-up business process outsourcing (BPO) operations in St Elizabeth.

This facility will be the first of its kind in the parish and is projected to cost approximately $315 million (US$2 million).

According to Alanzo McKoy, chief executive officer of Mint Technologies, the first phase of construction is expected to be completed in six months and will include production spaces, training rooms, conference rooms and lounge areas.

“We have a long way to go, because the ideas that I have for this sector is not only to bring jobs to Black River and St Elizabeth, but the entire area of central Jamaica,” McKoy said. “My plan is to possibly have one of the biggest BPO operations in the Caribbean.”

The BPO sector continues to be the leading employer of labour, currently employing some 55,000, with 40 per cent of the labour pool working from home.

However, with the first outsourcing sector in the breadbasket parish to be established in his St Elizabeth South West constituency, Floyd Green, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, described the establishment of the Black River Tech Park as the rebirth of the parish capital.

REBIRTH

“We have the human capital in the parish to drive our technology sector, what we really needed was investors,” said Green during his address at the groundbreaking ceremony. “This marks the rebirth of Black River. This is, indeed, a very good start.”

According to Green, Black River is a prime location for even more investors in the BPO sector, which could prevent the continuous brain drain from the parish.

He also suggested that it is poised to become the most diverse town on the island, with a special focus on technology, as well as eco- and heritage-based tourism.

Derrick Sangster, mayor of Black River, also welcomed the initiative as a landmark development that will bring economic growth and serve as a provider of critical jobs for its residents.

“Black River has seen greater days, and I am convinced that it will rise again from the ashes. I believe that this is the start of great things to come,” Sangster said.