Building Jobs in Haiti with Building Blocks

Working toward Stability

In the last quarter of 2012, 1000 Jobs has worked on key elements which will bring sustainability to the block making operations in Domond. The efforts made to improve productivity were important and successful thanks to Global Giving. However, they needed to be supported by efforts to increase sales and a step by step expanding plan. The following is a list of elements that contribute to our progress during since October to date.

• The new generator is installed and working properly. It produces enough energy to operate all the equipments in the factory including the Block press, the stone crusher, the pan mixer, and our welding machine.

We have put in place an aggressive marking strategy to reach out the Central Plateau. We have placed banners, given interviews to Radio Station, and organized open door exposition to show our products to the potential buyers.

• The results of the marketing strategy were immediate as we were able to sell 23,795 blocks during the quarter (October – December 2012) compared to 30,000 sold in the first 6 months of operations.
• Contacts have been established with companies in the DR to find another block press and stone crusher to increase production and eventually jobs creation.
• By the second quarter of 2013, we will have our own truck to transport sand and blocks. With the help of GlobalGiving and the recent sales, our research for a used truck has progressed very well.
• Actually, we are working on finishing the cafeteria for the workers.
• We are currently working on a plan to have warehouse in the most important areas in the Plateau (concentration of construction activities) to store our blocks. This will reduce the shipping cost for the buyers and make our blocks more affordable.
• We have received the visit of some officials from the Department and advocacy is being made to sensitize the Government and NGOs to buy local instead of importing blocks.