Dear Editor,
Greetings to the bereaved family, friends, and associates of Mr. Gregory James Arrindell. Please know that I greet you in love and support, having heard of the death of Mr. Gregory James Arrindell. Special condolences are imparted to you, Ursula and Aisha, whom I met and shared a short time when Mr. Arrindell became a business partner as a direct result of the Tallahassee-St. Maarten Sister Cities initiative over a decade and a half ago.
I wrote a grant that supported the effort on the U.S. side through the Caribbean association in Tallahassee, Florida. This enabled wonderful opportunities to enjoy your beautiful country and meet government leaders, civic advocates, and business owners. While involved through GlobalBzNs, N.A., an entity incorporated in Florida and SXM, I co-established the SXM Business Association with a grant funded in Holland that I wrote. Later, I was honored to become a business consultant with the SXM Chamber of Commerce and participated in a Caribbean Executives Conference in Jamaica.
Who can forget the Caribbean-wide boxing tournaments orchestrated by Milton Ottley of Better Opportunity for Talents (BOFT) Foundation? We and many more were in this together. Greg inspired a radio show in Tallahassee by the Capital City Chamber of Commerce, Inc. that was co-hosted by retired City of Tallahassee department head Ben Harris, J.D.
While the voice of SXM and physical being have departed as we know in “Greg”, may his spirit find comfort knowing he is remembered. I especially thank Mr. Arturo Lugisse, who has kept the spirit of the Sister Cities initiative alive through the years in the form of the Tallahassee-St. Maarten Foundation, Inc., another entity that grew from this association.
Last, but not least, Greg introduced me to Mr. William Lake of New York (via SXM), a corporate executive who guided me along my SXM business journey. Mr. Lake is credited with leading the efforts of the Florida Advisory Council on Small and Minority Business Development’s drive to allow small businesses to raise their own capital for operations and growth.
Good ol’ SXM! None of this would have happened but for Greg’s “gift of gab”. He believed in putting people and principles above politics, and going places to make things happen. He was excellent with networking!
Lay the past aside and look forward to the living future!
In peace and charity,
Dr. Cheryl S. Mobley-Gonzalez
