Members of the Hendrickson family were presented with the Gleaner Honour Award for business at the Knutsford Court Hotel, St. Andrew yesterday. They are from left, Karl Hendrickson, Gary 'Butch' Hendrickson, Lori-Ann Lyn, Kevin Hendrickson and Cathy Kerr. The family's interests spread from National Packaging to the Courtleigh and Knutsford Court Hotels. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer PATRIARCH. FAMILY man. Public Servant. Business tycoon. Visionary. Leader. Hotel magnate.
The single sentence that enshrines the Karl Reginald Maurice Hendrickson's business philosophy is 'Ambition does not stop at the first billion'.
We salute you and your family for their outstanding business acumen and their unshakeable belief in their own destiny.
Hendrickson went to DeCarteret, then to Jamaica College in Kingston which he entered in 1943, at the age of 13. He left for McGill University in 1949 where he defied his father's wishes for him to do medicine, instead opting for agriculture. While at McGill, he was introduced to a new baking technique which he thought could galvanise the family business. So enthralled he was by this idea that when he returned home in 1950, he never returned to McGill to complete his education, and with the support of his parents, he 'one-upped' the competition to become the first businessperson to introduce soft, sliced bread to Jamaica.
From the bakery business, the family went into other manufacturing businesses such as printing. National Packaging produces films that wrap consumer products, like bread, chicken, biscuit and toilet paper. He even started small bakeries in England in the late '70s, and at one point, a furniture company.
We commend you for being a true 'family man', and having the vision to orchestrate a dynasty and create a legacy that will fascinate historians for years to come. You enjoy working with your children and with your retirement in 1995/96 as chairman of the National Continental Corporation (NCC), each one of your four children has responsibility for their own sector in the Hendrickson business dynasty.
The eldest, Gary or 'Butch'' as he is called by friends and family, now operates the Half-Way Tree bakery, NCC. We commend you for the incredible job you have done since taking over the bakery officially in December 1994, making it one of the powerhouses in baking in Jamaica. You project the quiet threat that you can derail anything. Nothing stops Butch, not even a combination of a dangerous machine and what you call your 'own stupidity'. You lost three toes to that machine, but you made no fuss about it. The doctors just stitched them on, and went about your business in your characteristic matter-of-fact way.
We applaud you, Butch, you are one helluva guy. You have transformed an otherwise ghastly story into a riveting cocktail party tale that often leaves guests breathless.
The second, daughter, Lori-Ann, who with Dave Lyn, her husband, operates Caribbean Broilers and Feed Mills. Your penchant for administration and take-charge attitude are strengths that have helped you and husband Dave Lyn forge CB chicken to one of the major players in the poultry and agro-business.
We salute you for your personal magnetism and the tireless energy that you seem to expend in all your activities. Your friends describe you as a 'tiny dynamo', a lovely blur of headlong energy that never stops until the job is done. This energy has extended into your personal life, where you have been able cultivate a loving, successful 25-year-old union that has produced two daughters and a son, ages 23, 21 and 10. And at 48, you have been able to maintain your form and figure, you are still pardon the pun a hot chick!
The youngest son is Kevin who operates the hotels: the Courtleigh, the Knutsford Court Hotel on Ruthven Road (the old Sutton Place).
We salute you for being an exemplar of excellent business tactics and a champion of entrepreneurship. When the Courtleigh Hotel & Suites located on Knutsford Boulevard, the Hendrickson's flagship property, opened in 1997, there was much hand-wringing and speculation by the doomsayers who felt the project was sure to struggle. However, in your capacity as property General Manager, you were confidently optimistic. Now, five years later, you have proved the naysayers wrong. The hotel now enjoys an average 90 per cent occupancy and has made its reputation by delivering superior quality accommodations and attractively priced services by targeting the upper segment of the market.
But you did not stop there. Persuaded by senior managers and wife, Jackie who manages The Yummy Bakery you spread the winning formula to another property, and hence the birth of the Knutsford Court Hotel which will offer moderately priced, clean, airy and well-appointed rooms in a safe, comfortable environment to the business and leisure traveller.
The family, known for taking up challenges, opened The Sunset Beach Resort & Spa in Montego Bay in 1999. The family also recently reopened Ruins At The Falls in Ocho Rios under Kevin's management to rave revues.
We applaud you Kevin, for possessing that uncanny family gene of being able to transform otherwise lukewarm properties into extremely successful investments.
Baby Cathy, the youngest daughter and her husband, Ian Kerr, run the Sunset Beach in Montego Bay, and both are directors of the National Packaging Corporation Ltd.
The dynasty all began with the patriarch, Karl.
We applaud you for your sterling work in the public sector. Not many Jamaicans may remember, but in the 1970s, Karl Hendrickson was extremely active in the public sector, serving both as Chairman of Jamaica Merchant Marine, the nation's shipping line, and as Chairman of Jamaica Public Service. He has also served as a director of Air Jamaica and Vice-Chairman of Jampro. However, he regards being appointed an Ambassador-at-large by Prime Minister Michael Manley in acknowledgement of his role as a valued advisor as 'the greatest privilege and honour ever bestowed on me'.
And we salute you for what you consider to be your greatest success the preservation of the family unit, and the fact that your lovely wife, Nell, has stayed at your side through the successes and personal sacrifice. We wish for you and your family all the best as you approach yet another heartening milestone in your personal life.
For these reasons, we present you with pleasure, the 2002 Gleaner Honour Award of Excellence.
