Fitzgerald making strides in Building and Construction Industry

Fitzgerald making strides in Building and Construction Industry

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25-year-old Fitzgerald Bob is the proud owner of Orion Group of Companies, a newly established locally owned company that operates and runs three businesses here in Port Moresby.

For this young father of a beautiful 12 months old daughter, becoming a businessman was something he had been passionate about as a young man getting through high school.

Fitzgerald, who hails from a mixed parentage of Simbu and East New Britain said initially, he started running his first business which was involved with property management and later ventured into two other businesses which he now manages full time.

In 2015, after he lost his father, he was faced with the mammoth task of managing the family properties as at the time, being the eldest son in his family, he had access to three properties which he has been managing in between getting a university education and now a full time job with Phoenix Group of Companies.

“When my dad passed on in 2015, I was still in high school and his passing although, a sad time in my life, was also a moment that made me come into my own as a man.”

“I had to learn to grow up very quickly and think like a matured man because my family, especially my mum and sisters depended on me to carry forward my father’s legacy and also to take care of the three properties my father left behind.”

After completing high school from Gordon Secondary in 2015, Fitzgerald went over to Lae Poly-technical College to undertake a diploma in Civil Engineering and completed his studies in 2017 and returned to Port Moresby in 2018.

Shortly after, Fitzgerald was employed by Phoenix Builders as an Engineer and has since been employed by the company and to date holds the position of Site Manager where he is currently managing a project at Wildlife.

As a young man with a young family, raising a daughter who is soon to turn one, Fitzgerald says it always pays to have a support system that is always looking out for him and keeping him in check.

“Having an 8-5 job and then managing your own business at the same time can be very demanding and challenging especially when you are the only hand on deck but my wife has been a great support to me in managing my business especially when it comes to the admin side of it.”

“My day usually starts with me going around to our project sites to make sure that what needs to be done must be done and organise my men for the day and then only after I have satisfied my duties as a Site Manager, I then go around to check on my own staff at Orion Group.”

For this young businessman, being involved in the property and construction industry has been a tough challenge especially being young and having only a little under 5 years industry experience but Fitzgerald says the push factor for him in pursuing business, especially in the construction industry is the fact that he can interact and engage directly with the communities that they work in.

A few months back, Fitzgerald was managing two businesses, Orion Properties and Orion Construction, both of which come under the Orion Group of Companies until he was engaged as a site manager for the Talapia road construction in Morata.

“Two months ago, we were engaged to work on the Talapia road in Morata and this is where I met my new partners whom I have been doing work with for the past few months now.”

Fiztgerald says through his work as a Site Manager, he has met people, especially boys from different communities as his employer employs these boys on short term contracts to help out with construction work.

It was through these connections that Fitzgerald met a young man whom he struck a friendship with and together, ventured into their newest business, Orion Brick Makers.

“My friend and I met through our work at Talapia last year and so we have been discussing the idea since last year and just this year, we decided to give it a go and it has been going well for the past two months.”

“We have identified bricks to be a major need especially during this time when there are buildings popping up everywhere and so we decided to meet this need by entering into a partnership.”

For the team, it was all about putting two and two together, combining resources and manpower to create a sustainable business in the form of brick making.

The brickyard is located at Morata where his business partner resides as this is where the production takes place. Fitzgerald manages the front end of the business by making the necessary connections, sourcing clients and putting in the investment for the business to continue producing bricks.

Fitzgerald also employs young boys from time to time to help out with the production however most times, it depends on the enormity of the orders that come through.

“We are currently supplying a few corporate clients however, most of the clients we have supplied are those that are building their own homes.”

“Usually it’s foreign owned companies that supply bricks for construction needs but we would like to be able to change that by growing and developing this locally owned business to a point where we are a major supplier of bricks in PNG,” Fitzgerald said.

For this young man, he is most determined about making Orion Brick makers a success as through this, he is able to provide employment to disadvantaged youths roaming the streets looking for opportunities.

“This newest business venture (Orion Brick Makers) as well as Orion Construction go hand in hand and it makes it possible for me to give opportunities to young men who are just roaming the streets with no hope in finding jobs here in the city where unemployment rates are high,” Mr Bob said.

The young business man is optimistic about the brick making business and further added that there are plans in place to secure a larger area so that production can transition to large scale as the demand for bricks gets high in the city.

For affordable high quality bricks, Orion Brick Makers can be reached on their Facebook page Orion Group of Companies as well as via contact number 78862253.

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2 thoughts on “Fitzgerald making strides in Building and Construction Industry

  1. Good on you, bro. Doing the same in Shipping & Logistics Services. If in need for Shippment out of Lae to other ports, do contact on;
    Ephraim Kepas
    Mb. 70246573 / 78755280
    Office: 982 3124
    Islands Agencies & Logistics Services
    P.O Box 197
    Rabaul.

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