On Saturday, May 19, Broward County Commissioner Dale V.C. Holness presented the key to Broward County to Don Wehby, Group CEO of GraceKennedy Limited. Broward County is located in Florida, USA.

The symbolic presentation was made at the GraceKennedy Money Services/Western Union Town Hall meeting held at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center located in the City of Lauderhill.  Lauderhill is within District 9, the area represented by Commissioner Holness.

Symbol of goodwill

 A Key to Broward County is a symbol of goodwill from the Broward County Board of County Commissioners (BCBCC) and is given to visiting dignitaries, esteemed visitors, or valued members of the community who have contributed to the county by way of public service or charity.

Vital contributor to Broward County

Commissioner Holness lauded GraceKennedy for its business and social contributions to Broward County over the years.   “GraceKennedy has been a vital part of the fabric of Broward County for decades and have demonstrated their commitment to building this community. As a successful Jamaican company, they have set a strong example of social responsibility from the top down,” Commissioner Holness said.

Humbled

Mr Wehby was surprised and humbled by the presentation. “I did not expect this at all, but on behalf of GraceKennedy and especially our staff and customers who live in Broward, I’m really honoured to accept this recognition.  The ties between Jamaica and Florida are deep and GraceKennedy continues to work hard at expanding our business in the State of Florida and our services to the Caribbean Diaspora in the US,” Mr Wehby said.

 Town Hall meetings are held annually in various markets, which sometimes include the UK and Canada. This year, two meetings were held in Florida and in New York (May 17) under the theme “The Caribbean Diaspora: In Pursuit of a Better Tomorrow…Today” with the keynote address presented by the Honourable Bruce Golding, former Prime Minister of Jamaica.

“I was happy to assist with bringing the Town Hall to Broward County.  The Caribbean Diaspora makes up a large portion of the population in Broward County, and any time we can have the Diaspora come together to share ideas and an action plan on how to make our communities stronger economically, here and for those back home, the better we are for it,” the Commissioner said.   

Present at the event were: Florida State Representative for District 95 Barrington Russell; Vice Mayor Howard Berger of the City of Lauderhill; Vice Mayor Yvette Colbourne  of the City of  Miramar; Deputy Mayor Mark Douglas of the City of Sunrise; Commissioner Winston Barnes of the City of Miramar and Commissioner Maxwell Chambers from the City of Miramar.

Along with Mr Wehby and Mr Golding, other participating speakers were: Michelle Allen, Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Money Services, Noel Greenland, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Customer Experience.  Rodrigo Garcia Estebarena Western Union’s Vice President and General Manager for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and Andre Largie, Western Union’s Country Director for the Caribbean.

GKMS has been Western Union’s Agent for almost three decades, and currently offers Western Union® Money Transfer services in: Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas.