Joe Issa Brand Builder Extraordinaire

Although they are not equal in many ways �" seniority, experience and wealth, to name a few �" they are surely alike in several others. So the next time you pop up the request: show me Joey’s friend and I tell you who he is, don’t be alarm if the name Sir Richard Branson jumps at you.

Issa and Sir Richard may be pioneers, philanthropists and businessmen in their own right, but something more extraordinary defines both of them �" brand builders; Issa with Cool and Sir Richard with Virgin.

It’s a matter of public record how these two men grew their separate brands, never out of the media eye, especially when they are fighting poverty, income inequality and environmental degradation, and also when giving back to the communities that support their businesses.

It’s been two decades since Issa, with a handful of dollars, started his first business, a gas station in St. Ann he named Cool Oasis; and the many people who knew him then, will remember how he leveraged little more than his good education, integrity and a brand called Cool, at a time when only a handful of people understood what a brand meant.

What Issa wanted was an identifying mark that was synonymous with great quality and great service, and he found it in “cool”, which was already a trendy way of saying “I’m alright”, “I’m great”, “I’m cool”. And for those who know the story, the rest is history.

Today, Issa continues to leverage his hugely popular, respected and successful Cool brand that has grown into a multifaceted group of over 50 companies, representing a variety of products and industries, and he is doing so not only locally, but globally, much like his colleague, Sir Richard is doing, albeit with a much larger group of over 400 Virgin brand companies.

Something else which Issa and Sir Richard have in common is that while they are growing their brand, they are also training young Jamaican entrepreneurs in developing their business models into viable ventures.

Through the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship- Caribbean based in Montego Bay, of which Issa is a mentor, hundreds of young people are being assisted in transitioning from having an idea, to developing it into a business.

The Centre is also partnering with financial institutions to enable graduates of the 12-week programme to access loan funds to make their dream come true.

Both Sir Richard, through Virgin Holidays, and Issa through his Cool Group of companies are devoting time and resources to assist young entrepreneurs; and several of Issa’s executives are involved in advising them on business models and strategies.

A non-profit institution, the Branson Centre has assisted some 500 youth in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Also, the Centre has launched an online skills training programme to increase its intake of potential entrepreneurs across the region.

Currently, about 329 young Jamaicans are benefiting from the online training, which is now looking to expand its foothold into Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia and the British Virgin Islands.