As a part of its ongoing civic journalism initiative, the management of the Jones Communications Network today announced the award of Businessman of the Year for 2015. He is Mr. Craig W. Flowers. The award which is a part of the Civil Society and Persons of the Year Awards, is given to that individual who uses head, heart and hand in the advancement of the economy of the Bahamas and for the overall improvement of the quality of life of the society.

The announcement from JCN said, “with the legalization and regulation of Webshop Gaming in the Bahamas in 2015, Mr. Flowers is being recognized as the individual whose vision facilitated the design of the platform and the development of the application for Online gaming in the Bahamas. This brought about the establishment of a new industry and the employment of thousands of Bahamians in what is now a legitimate enterprise.”

In the summer of 1998, Craig Flowers came back to the Bahamas after spending years as the Operations Manager and Chief Pilot of Libyan Arab Airline and began the development of Online gaming. He says this was done because he heard that many persons were treated unfairly in the old “Numbers Game” which was illegal since his boyhood days. In creating the platform, he spoke with his eldest son, Ian, who owns Providence Technology, and who had already been involved in the design of Banking Platforms for advice and to share his vision for Bahamians to play the game in the comfort of their homes.

Ian started the research to find a way to design the platform and to develop the application for Online Gaming.

As a globalist, Craig Flowers was determined to abolish or retire the illegal numbers business and to introduce a business model which could meet the approval of the government, which was in keeping with a new standard of performance that would satisfy principles of transparency and accountability and which could meet best practice and international regulatory compliance.

This took many years of hard work by his research team and the creation of the technology to use Automatic Teller Machines (ATM’s) to satisfy the needs of the gaming public. Another major achievement was to design and introduce a mobile device to accommodate the ever-growing market in the Bahamas.

After accomplishing these feats, a third party platform was designed to empower other Bahamian businessmen in the gaming industry. Today they use the platform designed by Mr. Flowers. The result was a new thriving industry which is now legalized and has become an integral part of the financial services industry in the Bahamas. Today, eight companies now use the Flowers platform. All of these have been licensed and are now regulated by the government.

Making the announcement, Wendall Jones, Chief Executive Officer of JCN said, “whether some Bahamians support the legalization Web Shop Gaming or not, it is indisputable that it is now a new legitimate industry in the Bahamas which came about through the incisive mind and the ingenuity of Craig Flowers. Our Committee believed that this justifies his award of Businessman of the Year for 2015.

The award along with others will be given in a gala luncheon on Friday 22ndJanuary 2016 in the Ballroom of The British Colonial Hilton, Bay Street.

The award of Businessman of the Year for 2015 goes to Mr. Craig W. Flowers