Belizean makes it big in U.S. paper business

We often hear tales of Belizeans who move abroad and make it large… and tonight we are happy to report on one such hometown boy who took a good idea in Belize and made it bigger in the U.S.A. Bobby Espat started Rose’s Paper Products in a shabby building in downtown Belize City and eventually relocated to a new facility on the Northern Highway. He and his wife Rose moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico over twenty years ago and got into the same business, converting bulk paper into consumer products. It prospered to the point where, according to U.S. press reports, the Espats employ two hundred and sixty workers and sell over seventy million U.S. dollars worth of toilet paper, napkins, and bags each year. Today we are informed that the company has recently concluded a deal to vertically integrate by buying their own paper mill. The purchase price of the Florida facility is thirty million U.S. dollars. In addition to founders Bobby and Rose, son Robert works as the company’s senior vice president and head of marketing and administration.