THE EVOLUTION of businessman David Hartman's transportation company, based in Morvant, is a case study in how enterprises can identify gaps in a market and fill them while also doing something of a public service.
Mr Hartman, 26, set up a business in 2020. What was at first a mini-mart later became the Hartman Group of Companies and General Construction Ltd.
Operating out of Morvant, the enterprise began focusing on transportation in 2021. Given that companies sometimes shy away from servicing areas deemed 'high-risk' due to crime or poor road conditions, it was a gap just waiting to be filled.
'I'm trying to break this barrier to show that everyone can have goods and services and get the same treatment that other communities enjoy,' Mr Hartman told Business Day recently.
There's a strong demand for his hauling service. He has been called upon to deliver everything from furniture to lunches and sandbags for flooding. Fifteen-hour days have become the norm for him.
But Mr Hartman should not have to provide such services.
While crime may have once been linked to so-called 'hotspots,' and while in some assessments the same areas around east Port of Spain are singled out for special disapprobation by both local and international entities, there's something downright discriminatory about the generalisations often made in risk assessments.
By this stage, crime touches more communities that can be banned from rideshare apps or shunned by larger, more traditional delivery services.
At the same time, businesses cannot be faulted for taking steps to reassure and protect their workers when it comes to working in areas that have well-documented histories.
And with police escorts being allocated to even state entities and utilities in these areas, it is hard for the private sector not to make distinctions. It's well known that even rideshare companies and traditional taxis have stopped going deep into certain areas, in the wake of incidents of robbery or murder. A rigid cultural perception has ossified around law-enforcement statistics.
Mr Hartman's endeavour is a way of redrawing the invisible boundaries that now shape these realities. It is also a way to acknowledge the needs of underserved areas of the country and to reverse the vicious cycle of stigma, turning 'risk assessments' into self-fulfilling prophecies.
As well as connecting different communities, he provides for his own neighbourhood, and uses every opportunity to employ people. He has 15 part-time employees in his construction company and four loaders in his transport business, all of whom are from Morvant. He also hopes his work can trigger more opportunities for businesses to grow and flourish.
This type of activity is essential if we are to break the cycle which inculcates people into having a limited sense of self. It should be applauded and supported as much as possible.
However, the challenges Mr Hartman will face are many. The crime outlook is not promising; there are many infrastructure woes; and stymied global economic cond
