Elvis Green

Elvis Green is the owner and managing director of ND Engineering. Born in Pietermaritzburg, he fondly remembers moving to a newly created coloured suburb called Woodland. Also located in Pietermaritzburg, this move marked the beginning of a journey that was deeply influenced by his upbringing.

After completing schooling, Elvis pursued a boiler- making apprenticeship with the international company APV Kestner, completing it in 1977. However, in 1987, due to sanctions on South Africa, the company closed its manufacturing operations, leaving many, including Elvis, without a job. “I applied to three companies – two in Pietermaritzburg and one in Durban. All three applications were successful, but I decided to get out of my comfort zone and accepted the position of estimator with the Durban-based company, ND Engineering,” Elvis explains.

Looking back, Elvis is proud of his entire journey. “Even when I occupied humble positions in my career, I’ve always been committed to the cause and worked diligently to grow professionally and advance the businesses I’ve been employed at,” he says. Purchasing ND Engineering in 2012 and building a new world-class manufacturing facility in 2019 are standout accomplishments, but Elvis is most proud of the difference he has made in the lives of those who needed it most.

GREAT STABILITY
Elvis feels blessed by the success he has achieved through hard work over many decades. “I’m extremely proud that I’ve built a business that has shown great stability in very trying economic times,” he states. This stability has allowed him to provide meaningful employment that goes beyond a generic employer-employee relationship. ND Engineering employs 262 full-time employees and offers full company benefits, including substantial investment in the tertiary education of employees’ children. “Our bursary scheme extends to youth in our community and covers vocational choices not directly linked to our field of vision,” he says.

Elvis’s legacy is one of putting community before profit. “Every man wants to leave a legacy of some sort, and for me, I want to be remembered as a person who always put community before profit,” he reflects. His vision includes further growth for ND Engineering. “We have plans drawn up for a new facility that will be one and three quarters the size of our current premises. We’re just waiting for a few hurdles to be overcome, but that should happen within the next couple of months,” he shares.

Navigating life’s challenges, Elvis has always held onto a piece of advice that has profoundly influenced his journey. “Negativity is an overpowering human emotion that can cripple us all. In the face of overwhelming negativity, I am an eternal optimist,” he asserts. “Hard work doesn’t always guarantee success, but in most cases, it’s a prerequisite to mastering oneself, personally and professionally.”

Elvis recalls the 2008-2009 financial crisis as the biggest challenge he has faced. At the time, he was the production manager at ND Engineering, and the company had a full order book that extended for a year and a half. However, the collapse of the USA’s Lehman Brothers’ bank sent shockwaves through the global economy, and ND Engineering was not spared. “I was on a business trip to China and when I arrived back in South Africa, I discovered that 90% of the projects on our books were on hold,” Elvis recalls. To compound matters, clients had frozen all payments, putting the company in a precarious situation.

For the next two months, Elvis concentrated his energy on communicating with clients, and his efforts paid off. “At the end of January 2009, 90% of the monies owed to us were paid,” he shares, expressing his gratitude to God during that critical time. Many companies fell by the wayside during the crisis, but ND Engineering survived.

Elvis believes that obstacles are part of the dynamic world we live in and that there is no avoiding them. “One can only plan and equip your team to adapt,” he says. For him, there is no substitute for an engaged workforce and a high-performance culture. “I always emphasise that as a business unit, we are a system that relies on the performance of the entire company to achieve our strategic goals,” he explains.

A POSITIVE IMPACT
Rather than being inspired by any one person, Elvis is motivated by the potential for anyone, regardless of their social or financial standing, to make a positive impact on the world. “For this reason, I find motivation in leveraging my position to garner positivity and hope for the future,” he says.

Elvis is optimistic about the future of KwaZulu- Natal (KZN). He believes that with collaboration between the public and private sectors, KZN can leverage its unique location as the gateway to Africa to harness significant growth opportunities from an import and export perspective. “We have a young population that is hungry for opportunity, and it is up to business owners like myself to embrace this,” he adds.

Elvis attributes much of his success to the values instilled in him by his parents. “I grew up in a home where godly and good values and principles were instilled in me and my four siblings. It is those values and principles that have made us who we are in life and have enabled us to make important decisions at strategic milestones,” he shares.

The influence of his mother and the support of his wife, Debbie, whom he has been married to for 45 years, have been the bedrock of his life. “Debbie has stood behind me in every decision and everything I’ve done in my life,” he acknowledges, expressing gratitude for the family they’ve built together, which includes four sons and one daughter.

Elvis’s life has been guided by a principle that has served him well in all aspects: “The more bountifully you sow, the more bountifully you reap,” he says. “All we really have is the day at hand, so do the very best with the day at hand, and this will take care of the future,” he advises. For Elvis, being the best version of who you were created to be is the goal, and it is a principle that has guided him throughout his life.