New York and South Florida political players, businessmen and customers will descend on Lauderhill for the grand opening ceremony of Dennis Shipping's Florida location. The event will welcome Floridians to the shipping company, which has been a household name in New York and surrounding states, as well as throughout the Caribbean.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, October 15 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will be held at the Dennis Shipping offices at 3695-99 NW 15th Street, Lauderhill, 33311.

President and CEO Dennis Hawthorne decided to open a Florida location since his loyal customers were clamoring to get the same service they'd grown accustomed to.

According to Hawthorne, " Our customers who moved from New York to Florida, and were still shipping things back to the Caribbean called and asked us to open an office in Floirda as they were not getting the quality service they are used to getting from Dennis Shipping. This propelled us to provide quality service to customers in South Florida."

Former NYC Councilwoman Dr. Una Clarke, the first Caribbean-born woman elected to the New York City's legislature, will make the trek from New York to serve as master of ceremonies for the event. NY Assemblyman, Nick Perry; former Ambassador of Jamaica to NY, Dr. Basil Bryan and Broward County's own Commissioner Dale Holness will also be at the event. Golden Krust president and CEO Lowell Hawthorne, a friend of Dennis will also be on hand, as will veteran Jamaican comedian Oliver Samuels who should bring some humor to the event.

Commissioner Holness says, "Dennis is involved in facilitating a very important part of our economy -- international trade. It's essential that people of African descent take every advantage of the opportunities this economic boosting and job creating business presents."

The Florida location opened on September 12, just a little over a month, and already they are reporting a positive response from the South Florida population. There has been excellent response from their radio broadcasts on WAVS1170 and the office reports that most of their clients say they saw the Dennis Shipping ad in the National Weekly.

Attendees to the event will have a chance to win a fully paid trip, including airfare and accommodations to Negril, Jamaica. Guests will get numerous free gifts from companies like Tropical Shipping and Sea Freight Agency.

The event will be streamed live on WAVS1170 and attendees will be entertained with live performances and have complimentary refreshments