Business: Bank on Your Phone coming from Grace, First Global

At a time when multinational banks (read "Canadian") have exited or are reducing their presence in Jamaica, the exec team at Grace believe their banking subsidiary, First global, now liberated of its investment service sibling (offloaded for some J$3bn) can reap the benefits of their local knowledge.

That was the word from Grace Kennedy CEO, Don Wehby and his bank cohort, First Global CEO Courtney Campbell, at the venerable giant's most recent AGM, held at its downtown Kingston headquarters.

The GK team believe that their superior customer experience enhanced by ongoing consumer tech, such as "Mobile Banking" (which the bank CEO himself later demonstrated for this writer) will give them a leg-up on their overseas-based competitors.

Consumers can expect to have the last word by end of June, when the Banking by Phone service is rolled out to take its place alongside the exiting Internet banking platform

A selection from Harbour Wines, the rebranded Grace subsidiary

And by the way, GK Group revenues for the year? J$77bn, a 15% increase over 2013, but profits dipped on acquisition costs associated with the purchase of US regional food line La Fe, as Grace continues its push for market presence in North America, Europe and Africa.



localjoe.myorganogold.com

Music: Kemmy Be Good, Heard All Over

Its getting to the point where its hard to turn on (or punch in a radio station - terrestrial or online - without catching a track from Kemar White AKA “Kemmy Be Good” .

"Kemmy" who started recording music professionally in July 2013, has virtually been a one-man industry, releasing his own recordings on his Bling Facta label and spreading the word globally.

His debut track, a searing piece of social commentary titled "Country Unstable" picked up over 4000 views on You Tube within a few weeks and the artist has reports of airplay from many stations across the continental US. This initial success brought him to the attention of  “DJ Young Lion” from “Black World Sound” one o the top reggae/dancehall-oriented jocks in America, was Used to open THE UNDERGROUND EXPERIENCE WITH UNCLE EARL Radio Show, aired on  www.ultimateunderground.com, and also earned a feature spot on “Yardhype.com” on August 5, 2013. The subsequent music video was in rotation on local channels Hype TV and Cvm Plus.

 The DJ followed that up with “Move Like A Gig” which received similar media attention to the first, landing on FAME-FM's popular "Full House Fridays" and on US stations such as KJAG Radio, the midwest America-based internet radio station with over a decade in the business.  

And things are looking up for “Kemmy Be Good” even beyond those markets. He has just recently had the song "mash up The Place" nominated for Dancehall Song of the Year in Uganda, and has in fact been enjoying good rotation throughout East Africa, including also Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Even further afield, his music has been picked up in New Zealnd, where heas also been the subject of radio interviews.

In addition, Kemmy has been blazing hs way through several live show stages, most recently being the popular Ghetto Splash event at the Waterhouse Mini-stadium. 

For his part, Kemmy states that his primary focus is "to put out relevant music that the people can move to even with the message in it" it is to this strategy that h attributes the media attention received to date, and what he expects to carry him forward in the music biz.

Current and upcoming projects include a riddim track, the "Nah Smile" riddim, and several production gigs and stage appearances.