Lawrence Griffin, MBE - Eleutheran Entrepreneur

Mr. Lawrence Griffin - Photo by Elizabeth Bryan

Mr. Lawrence Griffin, born on January 25th, 1936, at 72, a well respected businessman in Governor's Harbour for more than fifty years, took some time to sit and talk with The Eleutheran about the wealth of experiences he has had during his life and times. We began first with his name, which was a story all unto itself, being just shy of half a dozen. He chuckled fondly while reciting it saying, "Back in the days, our parents sat around the fire or kerosene lamp, and when they had kids or expected families, they decided who these names would be,… you know it boggles the mind, but they had lots of spare time on their hands and raised big families". His formal Christian name stands proudly as Lawrence Fred Arthur Whitfield Griffin.

Mr. Griffin born to Mr. Everett and Mrs. Alice Griffin of Governor's Harbour grew up during challenging times. He described, "We came through a struggle...because in the 1950's and earlier, life in Governor's Harbour was not like it is today. It used to be referred to as a fishing village, and it was a very difficult time in those days. I mean just trying to hack out a living to provide your daily needs. Fifty years ago it wasn't easy… Life was not easy". He continued, "I grew up as a kid here and went to the public school and some days you went to school, and you didn't know where lunch was coming from, there was no economy at all. That's how difficult it was. But life went on and the struggle went on".

Griffin, a hardworking, dedicated and disciplined entrepreneur credits some of the initial inspiration for his current enterprise with the start and training he received in his first work experience at the US Missile Base, which was developed during the 1950's outside of Governor's Harbour, just south of the Airport. He described the development of this Base as being the "reincarnation" of Governor's Harbour saying "when that came into being it created a lot of employment for people that had skills". He continued, "At that time we had about 500 Americans living here in Governor's Harbour.  Every rental house was taken up by American families.  This was when the development stage of Governor's Harbour and the extended villages came into being.  It was a tremendous thing here for us, changing the whole economy of this area.  Then the next phase was when we started to develop the tourism economy and people were interested in buying small acreages of prime land, the beach properties today."

At 16, fresh out of All Age School, he had a humble start supplying water to the Base employees, preventing them from having to leave their posts. He aspired to work with his father, who was the Chief Maintenance Mechanic at the US Base and worked hard to move forward. After befriending a US Inspector with the project who saw his potential, he was eventually promoted to running the gasoline fuel station, and then finally got the opportunity to work with his father.

After being at the US Base for several years, Mr. Griffin returned to work in Governor's Harbour for three years at the transport system associated with the Power Station which had been recently developed, largely by Sir Roland Symonette. According to Griffin, "We had an English fellow there who ran this part of the site for Sir Roland Symonette, named Major Harris, and they started the first electrification of Governor's Harbour. You see Rock Sound had lights a long time before us, but Sir Roland put the first lights in Governor's Harbour. While I was working there at the Power Station, Sir Roland ran a public transportation system, through his supervisor that he had there, Major Harris and his wife. They had buses traveling up and down the island picking up people. You could have gotten public transportation out of Rock Sound, which may have cost you two shillings - and you could have traveled from Rock Sound all the way to Hatchet Bay. They tied it into a transportation system out of Hatchet Bay, where the Harrisville Company had boats shuttling between Nassau, if not everyday, then every other day. So this public transport service connected in with those times. People would travel from Rock Sound, Tarpum Bay, Palmetto Point, wherever, and the Cooper's of Palmetto Point drove that bus. And we had those British style buses at the time, not the double deckers - I remember distinctly - and I worked with my father out there keeping the buses repaired and keeping them mobile".

Within one year after leaving the Power Station, in 1955, Mr Griffin partnered up with his long time friend, Arthur Rolle to go into business on their own. This partnership which included providing automobile repair services and a gasoline dispense station, lasted eighteen years.  Mr. Rolle, who is another very well known and respected businessman in the community, still has business interests located next to Mr. Griffin's Highway Service Station on Queen's Highway in Governor's Harbour (Rolle’s Auto Parts/Globe Princess Theatre). As Griffin's business grew, he diversified to include a number of services and interests including Real Estate, and in his words, "The rest of it is history".

In 1998 he received well deserved recognition and awards from the Bahamas Government, for his contributions to the business community and has also been made a Member of the British Empire, by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Among his many accomplishments he was also a key partner in the development of the Central Eleuthera High School by donating the land along with others on which the school sits, and has served on a number of business and church boards.

Mr. Griffin has nurtured a close knit family while being involved in his business. He has been married to his wife Carmen Griffin for 46 years, with three daughters, Gail, Susan and Sophie, who all assist with the family business today in different capacities, contributing to the business' overall success.

When asked about his advice for young entrepreneurs, Mr. Griffin had priceless advice, "Your work ethic and your responsibilities will follow you through and word of mouth -  people saying I take my work to 'Jack/Tom/Harry' or whatever the case may be... that's what happens in all professions. You have to be reliable and honest. These are the attributes that will carry you on". He also added, "You can't achieve everything immediately, but you have to stay focused on your long term goals… also proper financial management of your business is critical".

Mr. Griffin expressed delight in talking with young persons and young entrepreneurs around him often, passing along his wide experience and knowledge to the younger generation.