Business leaders support move to provide incentives

Saying it is very timely amid the economic recession, members of the business sector welcomed a plan by House Speaker Benigno Fitial to propose a measure that will provide incentive to companies that will train and hire local people.

During a recent meeting with the leaders of the Legislature, members of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce expressed concern on the effect of hiring untrained people on the quality of service. While the private sector in general agrees in giving priority to the local people in terms of employment, a tax break will at least help them cope with the rising cost of doing business, said Lynn Knight, president of the Chamber.

“No business can afford to do so much training right now because we are already fighting for our survival and we need to cut cost wherever possible,” said Ms. Knight.

Joe Ayuyu, president of McDonald’s, said businesses have been waiting for such an incentive and urged the Legislature to pass the proposed measure immediately. “It should be given a priority in the Legislature because it is something that’s good for the local people,” he said.

Even the Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands has pushed for the grant of incentives that will encourage employers to conduct more trainings for the local workforce.

HANMI president Ron Sablan said the CNMI government should even develop the island’s overall educational system by providing meaningful work-based learning opportunities.

Developing programs to hire and train local people is a priority of the hotel association, Mr. Sablan said. “We believe that education and training are the necessary tools needed for the local workforce to be equipped at facing the challenges of today and tomorrow,” he added.

HANMI has been batting for a legislation that will at least provide incentive to businesses when they spend huge amount of their budget for the training of local people especially at this time when they could barely survive the plunge in the island’s tourism economy.

HANMI is a member of the American Hotel & Motel Association which allows it to have access to nationally-produced training materials now being used in the business.

Business leaders are anxious to see the legislation and how it would impact their operations. “On face value, we appreciate it when the legislature is sensitive to our financial circumstances. Overhead is the operative in training. Whatever the legislature can do to get companies to want to do the right thing, by providing incentive for attempting it, is just plain good work,” said Richard A. Pierce, executive director of the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association. (Lindablue F. Romero)