SGMA ratchets up support campaign

Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association chair James C. Lin announced plans by the group to go all out in gathering local support for the Saipan garment industry, as the 25 licensed factories appeal to leaders here to find ways to keep their companies competitive.

During educational outreach sessions presented this week by the U.S. Department of Labor-Wage & Hour Compliance, and the CNMI Division of Environmental Quality’s opening sessions of the SGMA/DEQ Green Garments Partnership, plans were unveiled for community support initiatives to help local residents, both public and private, understand the plight of local factories and what they are now experiencing to keep their operations afloat.

Lin began by asking supportive motorists to display the association’s newest bumper sticker: Save the Label. The shiny black sticker for CNMI automobiles and trucks sports a red Save the Label slogan, with a white clothing label reading “100% Cotton” and the familiar “Made in Saipan-USA” tag.

SGMA also announced plans for a large golf tournament in late April, “SOS/Save Our Shirts,” which will feature an accumulation of prizes and awards offered by companies and businesses in Saipan, Guam and the U.S. that have benefited by the presence of the Saipan garment industry over the past two decades.

“We’ve had talks with two local golf courses for this tournament that will award the biggest prizes any tournament has ever offered its winning participants and partners for both good golfing and just showing up to show their support,” said Lin.

SGMA executive director Richard A. Pierce added, “Even though we still have warehoused safety products for our long overdue installation of pedestrian safety crosswalks waiting for government authorization to install, we have decided to announce our next project for the betterment of the island that has long hosted our business ventures.”

The SGMA will start its own Adopt-A-Road highway and road cleanup campaign.

“We realize that our nonresident employees are sometimes not as responsible with their own littering habits as they should be, and as littering does not discriminate and does occur among permanent residents/citizens as well, we will erect signs designating which roadways have been adopted by which factories as their responsibility to maintain in a clean and orderly fashion,” said Pierce.

Each factory will either have its own employees donate their free time to pick up litter, or the factory will be able to utilize others, such as the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s “Cash For Trash Program,” to get others involved for their own fundraising efforts.

According to industry officials, the bumper stickers, golf tournament and community projects are to be a part of what the industry wants to project as good corporate citizens.

“Ask not what the CNMI can do for you, but ask what you can do for the CNMI.” (PR)