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Based on reader nominations and the review of public submissions by a select editorial consultative committee, Cayman Net News has chosen Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Boatswain’s Beach, Joseph ‘Joey’ Ebanks, as the Net News Cayman Islands Person of the Year for 2008.Overjoyed at being named the Person of the Year, Mr Ebanks said that, along with the feeling of surprise when told of the selection, he felt honoured to have received the accolade.
Cayman Net News Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, Desmond Seales, said Mr Ebanks was a natural choice for Person of the Year.
“Joey’s energy and passion for turning things around at Boatswain’s Beach are obvious to all who know of his work and his commitment. He has had a tough challenge, and has triumphed over the odds thus far. If anyone can make Boatswain’s Beach a success, it will be Joey. He is tackling the job with tremendous dedication and fervour,” Mr Seales said.
Mr Ebanks’ award of this honour marks the ninth time Cayman Net News has named a Person of the Year since the award’s inception in 2000.
Married to Yolanda, and the father of four children, Mr Ebanks has demonstrated through the years a commitment to the all-round development of the Cayman Islands, and has focussed much of his energy on improving the lives of young people. He is zealous about education, as evidenced by his continued role as a lecturer at the International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI).
Passionate about community service, and having been involved in a laundry list of local community and sporting bodies, Mr Ebanks is well known throughout the Cayman Islands as a civic-minded individual. He is the 2006 recipient of the James M Bodden Sr Award, presented to the graduating student at ICCI who best exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism.
He said, “Community service is a gift – it takes you away from everything else that is going on. You don’t make any money from it, there is no financial reward, but this feeling that you get when you walk away and you’ve done something good that you can’t buy.”
It is for this and his other accomplishments that Mr Ebanks has been cited by the newspaper’s readers as worthy of recognition as Person of the Year.
In spite of his penchant for community work, Mr Ebanks has had to scale back to focus on the task he has at hand. A heavily favoured candidate for election to the Legislative Assembly representing North Side – the district of his birth - he turned his back on a career in politics, preferring to direct his energies on developing and thereby preserving an icon of Cayman’s past - Boatswain’s Beach and Cayman Turtle Farm.
“Every day I am here, I am reminded that this is a national treasure, an intrinsic part of our culture and heritage. We have all the ingredients to make it work, and that’s a challenge I relish,” he said.
But, taking on the challenge of Boatswain’s Beach and Cayman Turtle Farm does not represent the first time he has undertaken work that positions him to look out for the best interests of Caymanians and other residents.
For years Joey was the face of the Caribbean Utilities Company, having worked his way through the ranks of that organisation. He was a key figure in fashioning Grand Cayman’s sole electricity provider into a customer-friendly organisation.
When he left a secure position as a manager at CUC to take up the reins at Boatswain’s Beach and Cayman Turtle Farm as the Chief Operating Officer in 2007, Joey was harbouring the conviction that it was time to move this national landmark to another level to ensure this symbol of Caymanian heritage lives on for future generations. To him, achieving this goal meant transforming the enterprise into a viable company, able to stand on its own.
He became acting Managing Director after six months on the job, and soon after was confirmed in the position.
In this leadership role, he found himself at the helm of a facility whose appeal and market share were not growing in tandem with the multi-million dollar investment that had been made to turn the Cayman Turtle Farm into Boatswain’s Beach. Losses were mounting, and Mr Ebanks was tasked with stemming the tide.
Now, at the end of 2008 and in the early days of a new year, Boatswain’s Beach, billed as the Cayman Islands premier tourist attraction, stands successfully re-positioned by Mr Ebanks and his team to go from a money-losing, Government-owned entity to a customer-focused venture, well on its way to becoming an adventure park of international renown.
The award of Person of the Year to Mr Ebanks comes in the wake of a tumultuous year for the Cayman Islands and for Boatswain’s Beach, in which he and his team faced several challenges in the ongoing quest to transform the park into a profitable venture.
Steering the Cayman landmark through rough times following damning reports by government watchdog agencies on the company’s practices, Joey and team emerged at the end of 2008 compliant with all legal and regulatory requirements, and was even offering advice and recommendations for a nation-wide approach to management of similar enterprises.
Joey and his team have now crafted a five-year plan that should put this tourist attraction, which means so much to Caymanians, on the road of sustainability.
“Our objective is to make Boatswain’s Beach a self-sustaining business within three years,” Mr Ebanks said. “Our strategic plan includes a doubling of the park’s market share from 20 per cent to 40 per cent; added entertainment and extensive changes to our business scope.
“We have repositioned Boatswain’s Beach as a tourism attraction and massively cut our monthly losses,” he said “2009 is going to be the year that Boatswain’s Beach positions itself as the premier attraction in Cayman.
“The Turtle Farm is Cayman culture and heritage. If we fail, we fail nationally and we have failed our people. This is not just a job – it is much, much more than that,”... the words of a Caymanian to the core, totally deserving of the title Person of the Year.
2008 Nominees for Person of the Year
Several individuals throughout the Cayman Islands community were nominated for the title of Person of the Year 2008.
Representing a broad range of vocations and nationalities, the nominees submitted to Cayman Net News were all worthy candidates who made an impression in 2008 and contributed to the community in a variety of ways.
The Nominees (in alphabetical order):
Dr Elsa Cummings
Dan Duguay
H.E. the Governor, Stuart Jack
Hon Arden McLean
Carlon Powery
Tim Ridley
Tony Ritch
Aileen Samuels
Christine Sanders
Estella Scott Roberts
Catherine Tyson
Dr Sook Yin
Previous Person of the Year recipients
Joseph “Joey” Ebanks, Person of the Year 2008, joins a distinguished list of recipients of the Net News’ Cayman Islands Person of the Year title, which dates back to 2000.
The first recipient of the Person of the Year award was Sherri Bodden Cowan, then the Acting Chairman of the Immigration Board.
The Person of the Year 2001 was Hon McKeeva Bush, who at the time was Leader of Government Business and Minister of Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce.
The Chief Secretary, Hon George McCarthy was named as Person of the Year 2002 in his former position as the Cayman Islands’ Financial Secretary.
In 2003, the award remained in the Civil Service when Angela Martins was recognised as Person of the Year for her role in leading the Islands’ Quincentennial celebrations.
The title moved to the private sector in 2004 when Tim Adam, then the CEO of Cable & Wireless, was cited as Person of the Year for his capacity of leading the telecommunications company’s local operations.
In 2005, Pastor Al Ebanks received the Person of the Year accolade in recognition of his prominence in service to the community.
Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson was Person of the Year 2006 for being at the helm of the Immigration Department through a busy year of Immigration reform.
The most recent recipient, Hon Alden McLaughlin was recognised as Person of the Year 2007 for his plans as Minister of Education, Training, Employment, Youth, Sports & Culture to reform the Cayman Islands education system.
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