Couple tapping into Guyana’s rapid growth with three business ventures

MICHELLE and Keon Howard are a re-migrant couple who initially returned to Guyana for an extended visit for a year. However, during their stay, the couple felt the need to pool their knowledge, experience, and resources and invest in Guyana’s rapidly growing local economy in three separate businesses that offer various services.

The Howards are the owners of Electric Guyana, the brainchild of Keon, who brought his electrical business from Canada to Guyana after he realised he wanted to stay. Fresh Café is co-owned by his wife, Michelle and a local engineer which promotes healthy eating and living.
Then there is the couple’s other business, Winedays.gy, a high-end imported wine business which they are hoping to grow.

The intention of the Howards is to contribute to Guyana’s growth and they have invested with all their might in three business ventures with the hope of promoting education, electrical standards and a healthy lifestyle through a ‘green’ diet.

Michelle’s love for cooking
Michelle loves cooking and with her expertise and kitchen skills, she and co-owner Jeffrey Walcott opened Fresh Café in 2023 at Carmicheal Street, Georgetown, next to Scotiabank.

Michelle was passionate about introducing a healthy diet food option that is different from most eating houses. Jeffrey manages the décor and it is quite pleasing to the eyes. The soft touches of greenery with a kitchen garden right in the restaurant bring that added pop, and the light, soothing instrumental music, clean atmosphere and suitable furnishings make it all come together well.

“We have the space, the wall opens up and there is enough space to host meetings, seminars, parties and other get-togethers and so far, people have been utilising the space for many events and the restaurant caters for walk-ins and just about anyone but we have our regular customers who make it viable to keep our door opened for business,”Michelle said.
In the near future, Michelle is hoping to expand, and the café will also provide gluten-free and regular desserts. “We take pride in our globally inspired approach to crafting locally healthy, creative and nutritious salads and warm grain bowls and plates that are made “fresh’ every day,” Michelle said.
“We have this area where we live called the dam where we had cookouts as a way of relaxing with friends. It was on a dam by the house we utilised and after I became a Rotarian and our friends would come and eat. And they said, ‘Michelle, you should have a restaurant because the food is delicious!’” she explained.

Keon’s electrical venture

On the technical side of things is Keon, the brain behind Electric Guyana Inc., an electrical consultancy and installations, residential, commercial, industrial and maintenance company.

After Keon and Michelle moved back home, Keon launched Electric Guyana Inc. in 2018. It is an electrical contracting firm responsible for the installation, maintenance, and repair of electrical systems.

Howard told the Pepperpot Magazine that Electric Guyana Inc. was accepted into the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Notably, the company is the first Guyanese entity to gain membership with the organisation.

“The organisation sets the standard for traditional and integrated electrical systems, leads the industry in the practical application of new technologies, serves as the voice for electrical construction by empowering contractors to be innovative, safe and responsible when executing works throughout the US, as well as, the Caribbean,” Howard added.

Further, Howard said that while the membership recognises Electric Guyana Inc.’s contributions to the industry, it also gives the company an advantage when bidding for international projects when compared to other businesses in the industry.

                                                                                                                              Fresh Café (Shaniece Bamfield photos)
He reported that they hope to create a body locally to raise the electrical standards/promote safety by having tamper-proof outlets at every six feet in-house to eliminate the possibility of overloading and fires.

Electric Guyana Inc. won the Guyana Chamber of Commerce and Industry award in 2023 and in the near future, it hopes to expand to cater to the oil and gas sector.

Howard’s electrical business has 12 employees including two females and they have had many successful projects in Guyana such as the Mabaruma Hospital among others.

He is a member of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and he assisted that body to have 31 new electrical standards.

The wine connoisseurs

Michelle and Keon Howard also have a unique hobby of imported wine tasting and entertaining with a good bottle of top-shelf wine.

However, when they relocated to Guyana, they could not find any good wines locally, so they started a small wine business called Winedays.gy.

Michelle is a wine lover and is quite fascinated by the variety of both white and red wines and spend a lot of time visiting vineyards, wineries, appreciating the taste of all wines when she was living abroad.

Wine had become a part of the couple’s lives during their time abroad. Michelle related that they would visit different wineries where they took part in wine tastings. “We did it often when we were courting and getting to know each other so that was something we had in common,” she said.

The couple, would visit Keon’s relatives, who live in Guyana. Since wine was so second nature to the couple, “When we would visit, we would always bring our wines in since we could never be able to find good wines that we like when we ran out,” she explained.

While the relocation was ongoing, Michelle suggested the idea of importing wines to Keon.
However, it is more multifaceted than that in the Guyanese setting. Michelle explained, “Most Guyanese don’t indulge in wines the way North Americans and the wine world do”.

Consequently, Keon and Michelle have had to come up with creative ideas to get the Guyanese public interested. One of these ideas is Wineday.gy’s mobile wine bar, “Vinny”, which is for hire and shows up at private functions, including weddings and events such as Curl Fete.

All of the wines that Winedays.gy offers are imported. The wines are boutique wines, all high- end, and top shelf.

Michelle explained that they seek out wines that are not the traditional bottle of wine, in the sense that the winemakers take their time with the wines.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that she is very passionate about introducing people to wines and often hosts wine-tasting events to meet and connect with the locals, some of whom have grown to appreciate wines.

Winedays.gy was the recipient of the Roraima Wedding Expo 2018 Best Booth Award and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Small Business of the Year Award when they started out with quite a bang.

Michelle and Keon would host a local wine-tasting event on the last Sunday of every month and have been at some cafes, Grand Coastal Hotel, Restaurant Week and other places to promote wines.

Winedays.gy would do popup wine tastings to familiarise the public with the business but due to the pandemic they have scaled down on many activities ‘wine-related’ but are hoping to re-start.

However, Michelle noted that those tastings are something they are hoping to bring back in this new year, 2024.