STAR Salute : Ken Grant - the big man in Albert Town

The name Ken Grant is one that is always on the lips of people in and around Albert Town in south Trelawny.

Born in 1924, Grant ventured into business when he returned from farm work in the United States as a 19-year-old.

"I rented a building and started a bar and tavern. While operating the bar, I looked around for opportunities to expand. I took the chance to buy the building I now live in and started a haberdashery," Grant, now 93, said.

From that start, he has never looked back and went on to become one of the biggest names in entrepreneurship in the area.

"There were opportunities in real estate, and I bought several pieces of land in the town. At one time I owned all the land from the school gate to where the gas station was," he told THE WESTERN STAR.

Grant said that he has always had the desire to give back. When the then Trelawny Parish Council (now municipal corporation) needed to establish a roundabout in the town, he donated the land.

Born an Anglican, he married the love of his life, Valrie, in the Anglican Church in Albert Town. The father of 10, Grant has tried to have all his children operate businesses of their own.

The longest-serving justice of the peace in Trelawny has retired from all business involvement.

He lives at the home he bought several years ago, where he is cared for by one of his daughters and a son, Hugh, who continues to operate the hardware and haberdashery in the town.