Prior to the incorporation in 1969 of the National Milling Company of Guyana Inc. (NAMILCO), a subsidiary of Seaboard Corporation of the USA, Guyana imported flour from various suppliers. Seaboard Corporation based in Shawnee Mission, Kansas City, USA saw an opportunity to set up a flour mill in Guyana and negotiated with the Government in 1967 to make this a reality. The land was purchased in 1967 in Agricola and construction by Taylor Woodrow & Associates and Ocrim of Italy was completed in 1969. NAMILCO was officially opened on May 17, 1969 by the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham. Seaboard owns, either wholly or in partnership, mills in Africa, Haiti, Colombia and Ecuador.

The mill was established with a capacity to produce 3,300 one hundred-pound sacks per twenty four-hour period and 45 workers were hired. As demand for the product increased, employment opportunity for Guyanese expanded and we were the first manufacturing enterprise in Guyana to operate three 8-hour shifts per day. The milling equipment was imported from Italy and the electrical and storage bins came from the United States. To read more about the company see: http://www.namilco.com/company-history-profile/

It was a pleasure to work with the folks at NAMILCO. They knew what they wanted and they were open to suggestions. The end product is one that we all can look at with a a feeling fulfillment.