Owner of Sunshine Employment looks toward a promising future

By NINA LAING

Freeport News Intern

Catherine Curry never dreamed of running her own business. In fact, at age 59, her take on life was pretty simple.

"My thing was you just work and when you get a certain age, you get your retirement and your bonus, sign a cheque and you get your pension and that's it – take care of your grandchildren," Curry said in a recent interiew.

Perhaps the mother of two expected to, some day, retire from the local cable company, where she had worked for 26 years.

However, life had other plans.

Now, as the owner of Sun-shine Employment & Training Agency, Curry can only describe her decision to leave her job and start her own business as heaven-sent.

"It was really a vision. It was a vision from the Lord," she explained. "It was hit and miss ... I really didn't know anything about it. I had to research what an employment agency was."

And lucky thing she did, as Curry, for 12 years, has been instrumental in helping a host of Grand Bahamians find employment in the community.

Sunshine Employment has forged relationships with hundreds of local employers over the years through providing quality service and leaving lasting impressions.

As with all emploment agencies, Sunshine Employ-ment matches employees to employers, eliminating the "traffic" of hopefuls, alleviating the stress of a screening process and generally making it easier for a company to make its decision. Addition-ally, the agency supplies local businesses with all of their secretarial and accounting needs.

"We'll assist you with letters ... We help with business cards and also letterheads to match," Curry said. "So when persons come in, whatever they're looking for, we try to accommodate them. We don't like for anybody to walk out the door if there's something we can do to assist them."

Assistance and service? Listening to Curry speak, you get a sense that that's all she really cares about.

And as she willingly shares tales of nearly closing her business while smiling peacefully, you understand that it's not about the money.

"Really, I like to help people," she said joyfully. "I own the place and I've been working there all these years, but I was offered jobs over and over. The salary is nonexistent because right now, we just, for the past years, make enough to try to keep open. So it's not about the money, but its about touching the lives of the people.

"The clients are more interesting than the business itself. Meeting new people and talking with people over the years... it's been a joy. The financial part? I was told by a bank manager when I first opened that, 'Well Ms. Curry, this wouldn't be a business in Freeport where you'd make a lot of money,' and truer words have never been spoken."

Curry experienced this stark reality in 2004 when Hurri-canes Frances and Jeanne wreaked havoc on the island, bringing about the closure of The Royal Oasis Golf Resort and Casino and certain stores in The International Bazaar – all very valuable clients.

She admitted that since then, Sunshine Employment has never truly bounced back.

As the nation continues to suffer from economic hardship, Curry, like many others, is finding that making it in business is even more discouraging now than ever.

This is further complicated by the island's increased unemployment rates.

Thus far, she has described the experience as "devastating," noting that certain job duties such as computer training and Quick Book courses have been put on hold, and scrapping for jobs is now customary.

"Sometimes you find a job for some people and then in a couple of months they say, 'Oh Ms. Curry, they had to let me go; business is so slow.' So it's rough."

Excluding herself, Curry revealed that Sunshine Employment currently operates with just two staff members.

Still, she braves these misfortunes with unwavering assurance.

A self-proclaimed optimist, she credits her husband for being her support system through it all.

"It's always good to have someone to encourage you. I have my husband to encourage me. He is 100 percent in support of what I do. He was right there with me during the whole process. As a matter of fact, it's because of him that I'm still open. When things were rough (financially) he was always there to support me."

The Marco City resident, who confessed to cutting off the non-essentials in order to save money, admitted that running her own business is not what she expected.

However, Curry enjoys the freedom of self-employment and says that she has no regrets.

Speaking from over a decade of experience, Curry offered advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

"You have to make sure you have sufficient cash to sustain yourself, especially when you first start before the business picks up," she said.

"If you're going into business, make sure you survey the market ... You have to do marketing first. You have to see if what you're going to do is needed and how well it's received because a lot of times, people go into business because they see someone else with the business and they're ... successful."

Curry warned against this.

Instead, she advises future business owners to put serious thought into whether there is a demand for their service and then consider how they will sell their product.

With hope, Curry looks toward a promising future for Sunshine Employment as well as Grand Bahama.

"I'd like to see the company grow," she shared. "I want to stay open and I just want Freeport to really become the city that it can be ... I always tell people that there is no reason Grand Bahama couldn't be another Miami Beach. I have a very positive attitude. I have to be positive about life and I have to believe that things will get better."

© 2010 The Freeport News