April 2013
| Business World Magazine | 271
hauling services involving light-trucks that
primarily served the construction industry.
Those trucks would come in handy by haul-
ing debris and helping clear roads after Hur-
ricane Hugo hit St. Croix in 1989. The busi-
ness and its services expanded over the years,
but in the wake of devastation by Hurricane
Marilyn, Lester Ashby realized the territory
was also in need of other important services,
in this case, an effective and efficient means
of transporting water. Furthermore, there
was need for larger trucks and earthmoving
equipment to properly and expeditiously
advance recovery efforts. In the chaos of
that era, A9 Trucking Enterprises and Heavy
Equipment Rental sprung to action and
proved vital to the territory struggle to re-
turn to some sense of operational normalcy.
As the company went on to provide water
delivery, waste & debris removal and heavy
equipment rental services, Lester Ashby and
his family soon encountered another blow
more devastating than any weather system
wind. Lester’s son, Enrique (Ricky), who
had worked beside his father to grow the
business, tragically died in an accident. Now
for his part, Jimez Ashby was an exceedingly
gifted athlete who excelled in track & field as
