My blogs on Joseph "Joey" Issa Founder Cool Group of Companies

Executive Chairman of Cool Corporation Joe Issa, who became Vice President Sales of his family chain of 15 hotel resorts in 1998 – the year Captain Horace Burrell sealed Jamaica’s place in the World Cup Football final – has expressed condolences to his family and friends, urging them to take comfort from his immense contribution to the sport in Jamaica. “I will never forget the celebrations which went on throughout Jamaica in 1998 when we qualified for the world. It was a first by a Caribbean country. It was a landmark year for me, as I had left the youthful threshold of 32, and became a vice president. He went on to development Jamaican football further. “So, rest in peace Captain. It’s God’s call, but your great service to Jamaican football and our youth will live on,” said Issa, who is a Eucharistic Minister of the Roman Catholic Church. To Burrell’s family and friends and the football fraternity, Issa urged: “It’s not easy when you lose a loved one, but if it’s any com...

The Jamaican face of oil and energy, successful businessman and philanthropist Joe Issa, is believed to be true to his word today, as he was three decades ago when he put ideas and self esteem above possessions. For it was with ideas and self esteem that made him hugely successful and popular in the business community, and among citizens in particular for his philanthropy. “I said it at graduation and I‘ll say it again today,” Issa said in an interview, as he responds to the primacy possessions hold in today’s generation, stating “we have lost nothing if we still have our ideas and our self esteem.” I a philosophical approach to urging acceptance of change in daily life, so that it does not break one down, Issa, in his valedictorian speech in 1988, used some stereotypes which he experienced when he entered university in the USA. “I remember being asked: ‘what does your dad do?’ and, ‘does your mom work?’ A true indicator that some people’s value systems, came with the ...

Businessman Joe Issa, a former tourism practitioner in Montego Bay, the home of former Governor General of Jamaica Sir Howard Cooke and Lady Cooke, has expressed condolences at the recent passing of Lady Ivy Cooke. She was 100 years old. Widow of Sir Howard, who died in 2014 at the age of 98 years, Lady Ivy Cooke is said to have passed away at the Andrew’s Memorial Hospital in St Andrew. The union is believed to have produced three children - Justice Howard Cooke Jr, Richard and Audrey. “From what I know of Lady Cooke, she was a very bright student and a committed educator, who spent the rest of her life in the classroom teaching,” said Issa, executive chairman of Cool Group of companies, noting, “That’s awesome service to people and country.” Issa, who continues to give towards the education of underprivileged Jamaican children through his Cool Charities subsidiary, said Lady Ivy Cooke is owed a debt of gratitude for her dedication to teaching. Both Prime Ministe...

National honoree for business and philanthropy Joe Issa, who employs many women in his Cool Group of companies, one of a handful of large corporations to locate their headquarters in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, is hailing all Jamaican mothers, as they celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 21, 2017, stating that they have endured more than their fair share. “I wish all Jamaican mothers a Happy Mother’s Day! I also wish for them continued strength and imagination as they continue to endure more than their fare share in bringing up the countries next generation,” said Issa, in an interview. He adds, “In fact, in most cases, they raise their children all by themselves, and where, by comparison, a man would wobble doing so, women tend to walk a straight path, begging the question: where do they get the strength to endure so much?” According to the Statistics Institute of Jamaica, most Jamaican households are traditionally headed by women, a phenomenon which is believed to have given...

A model student and businessman Joe Issa who, in a May 2016 blog urged support for the idea of teaching entrepreneurship in schools, has hailed the recent announcement that it would be done come September 2017. According to the announcement, all Grade nine students in 168 high schools will study entrepreneurship as part of the school curriculum in the September 2017/18 academic year. In an interview about the new development, Issa said the move will revolutionize the way society views school education, in terms of its ultimate utility value – to help find or create jobs. “I have always believed that entrepreneurship can potentially change how we see education particularly, the traditional view of a means to a job upon leaving school. “Now we know better, we should want more from a school education. We can redirect students’ mentality towards having greater knowledge and imagination, and wanting to change their future for the better, and by extension the Jamaican e...

It was 76-year-old late English  anthropologist ,  social scientist and  cyberneticist Gregory Bateson who once said, “Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money,” a quote which entrepreneur Joe Issa has no problem with, as he expresses pleasure in JetBlue’s interest in flying more visitors to Jamaica. “It is good enough to add more airlift to increase visitor arrivals to Jamaica; but when it comes from one of the world’s top airlines its even better…It’s value added, as it will enrich the travel experience to and from Jamaica and compliment our inland quality service,” said Issa, executive chairman of the Cool Group of over 50 companies. Issa – whose group business model has been likened to that of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group of over 400 companies – was reacting to recent news that New York-based air carrier JetBlue is planning to add a second weekly flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Montego Bay, as ...

With an overburdened court system and declining fellowship among citizens, trained mediator Joe Issa is urging greater use of mediation to settle conflicts, rather that taking it through the courts, stating the process could help rekindle lost fellowship in communities. “I won’t say we can do it for every case; but I am sure there are many conflicts which are now in the courts that should never have been there as they can be settled through mediation,” said Issa, who is a certified conflict mediator, having undertaken the required 40 hours of training. He adds, “Mediation allows the parties to discuss the issue in private – with the help of a non-involved third party – and come to an agreement much more quickly than the court system can manage, and no one else has to know.” Encouraged by the strides being made by the authorities with the establishment of mobile justice and parish offices for Justices of the Peace (JPs) – which encourage people to use mediation as an alte...

Innovative personality Joe Issa, who is a Certified Public Acountant, has tipped Kingston to play the big-city role that it should, stating it has a responsibility to do so. “Big cities all over the world – Kingston included – attract the best human capital from around the country and abroad, and as the big city, with more people and economic activity it will also consume most of the country’s energy base and generate most of the waste, including CO 2 emision into the atmosphere, which is the main contributor to global warming. “As Jamaica’s largest city Kingston must take responsibility for generating economic and social prosperity for its residents, who have to endure the waste, and most of whom were lured from other areas of Jamaica, with the promise of a better life for themselves and their families, whom they left behind in communities across the island. “These rural communities have been deprived of their skills base and experties to help them develop and grow, and...

Ocho Rios, St. Ann businessman Joe Issa is supporting the installation of video survellance technology in schools, likening the move to giving prosecutors a third and unbiased eye to view complaints, other than those of the claimant and defendant.  “I think it’s a great idea I dare say is long overdue. We have seen an upsurge in criminal activity at the schools by students and to a small extent, teachers as well as by outsiders who gain entrance to carry out their vendetors and disrupt the learning environment. “We can’t have that, especially in a learning institution where students are in the care of the state and should feel protected – safe and secure. “Closed circuit television (CCTV) in the island’s secondary schools will put a damper on crime at the institutions, by detering prospective criminals for fear of being identified,” said Issa, executive chairman of Cool Corporation. Issa, who is said to be giving much towards the education of underpreviliged child...

If technology and steel have anything in common, it can be found in what Joe Issa describes as “two different individuals sharing the same sentiment about what people should do with their wealth”, as he leaps across two distinct fields of endeavour, two seperate hemispheres and two centuries, to find inspiration. Issa, himself a philantropist, says he finds inspiration from a quote by Indian technology tycoon Azim Premji, which is reminecent of the famous 19th century excerpt by Scottish-American steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie. “Whenever I read a quote like Mr. Premji’s it reminds me of how privilege I am, and therefore, my duty to give back to the less privileged inorder to improve their world,” said Issa, founder of the Cool Group of over 50 companies that are being leveraged internationally, with the objective of making the group a global corporation. Premji, who is 4th in the world after giving away US$8 billion so far to charities, once said: “I strongly believe that ...

Accomplished entrepreneur Joe Issa, who mentors at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship Jamaica and therefore, has his eyes on the subject, says he is impressed by the emphasis placed on it by an emerging young Jamaican entrepreneur in the United States. Modle “I was very impressed by the young lady and the tremendous amount of work she had put into getting in the final ten. I was particularly impresed by her level of acceptance of mentorship as a key learning process for business success. “It even seemed that the prize money was secondary to the mentorship that comes with winning. She is obviously very smart to acknowlege the importance of mentorship and to embrace it for her own success,” said Issa, who has been praised by a Centre mentee for his great support. Issa, who is known to applaud Jamaican accomplishments, from accademic excellence to scientific breakthrough, was referring to a popular article in the Jamaica Observer about 32-year-old Jamaican Matthew ‘M...

Family and community oriented businessman and philantropist Joe Issa, who is a big contributor to the education of underprivileged Jamaican children is wowed by new discoveries which could relieve families and friends of the stress of fighting diseases in young children and put less pressure on the health services. DNA Testing “It’s a remarkable discovery that scientists can now remove disease genes in human embryos and allow for the birth of perfectly healthy babies. “You can imagine the stress this will relieve for generations of parents and friends who will no longer have children born with genetic diseases, as well as the pressure it will reduce on the health services. “Most importantly, healthier children make for a healthier, better educated and a more productive workforce, which is the most important input in the production of goods and services for economic growth,” said Issa, who founded the successful Cool brand that is being leveraged internationally. Is...

Founder of the successful Cool brand Joe Issa says Jamaica shows sound judgement choosing to learn from Singapore, stating the little learnt would magnify Jamaica’s development outcomes many folds.   “If we can learn even a little bit from Singapore, we would have taken a huge leap towards our economic development and in particular our strategies, systems and processes. “Singapore has a long and stable history of economic development and it has remained the best for years…We couldn’t have chosen a better partnership to help us grow our human resource base and the economy”, said Issa. Issa was commenting on an addendum signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore and Jamaica, which will see more than 200 Jamaican government officials trained in key areas of economic development by Singaporean experts, the Jamaica Observer reported recently. A week-long study visit to Singapore has already been undertaken by heads of various key ministries, departments and...