Wake up running

By William H. Stewart
Special to the Saipan Tribune

There is an interesting African proverb1 that has some relevance to the Commonwealth’s current economic situation. It goes like this:

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten.

Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn’t matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you had better start running.

While the sun may be setting on Saipan’s garment industry, it is coming up on the island’s major tourist competitors around the Pacific Rim and elsewhere and, for this reason, the NMI must run faster to survive. By that I mean it must take advantage of what competitive advantage it has in the tourism sector and do everything possible to enhance the islands’ “tourism plant” by continuing to improve the area’s attractiveness and competitiveness. This involves everything from providing adequate funding for MVA’s promotional programs; cleaning up the lagoon; coming down hard on crime; providing water that the visitor (and residents) can drink along with reliable power that the hotels and restaurants need to service the demands of the visitor and—more importantly—the expectations of the tourists.

I have noticed that generally the proverbial “person on the street” doesn’t necessarily think of him or herself as living in a tourist resort area and it often becomes apparent in relationships (or lack thereof) with visitors.

Perhaps this is because so few local people are participants as owners in the tourism sector, which is somewhat surprising. I doubt if you can identify very many tourism areas elsewhere in the world where such a small percentage of the businesses are owned and operated by the indigenous population. It’s unfortunate since contact with local people, their culture, food, etc., contributes to a rewarding experience for the visitor—it should be part of the total package—but from what I have observed, tourists have little opportunity for such contacts, at least on Saipan.

Personally, I find it strange and sad that so few business are owned and operated by local people. In my judgment, far too many of the smaller mom-and-pop type gift shops, restaurants, and other small service type businesses that should have been reserved for eventual participation by local people are instead owned and operated by non U.S. citizens.

I fully realize that my belief may be an anathema to some—but please note that I’m referring to the smaller activities and not the large, multi-million dollar investments. It’s the opinion I hold and based on many years of observation and analysis of the local economy. It’s an issue that should be discussed by NMC students and others to learn their opinion.

Mind you, I’m not opposed to foreign investment for the simple reason that when local entrepreneurs don’t rise to the occasion, the needs of the market must still be met by someone; otherwise the consumers are deprived of such activities as barber shops and beauty salons, shoe and automobile repair facilities and other small enterprises provided by foreign establishments.

Somehow, as the future unfolds, more young people must be encouraged to enter into business and participate in the growth and success of tourism oriented enterprises, particularly the small endeavors where large amounts of risk capital are not required.

For those young islanders who are ambitious but do not choose to enter a profession or acquire a marketable trade skill they must somehow be encouraged to acquire a degree of entrepreneurial proficiency or at least be exposed to the self-satisfaction and reward of owning one’s own business. I don’t know how to motivate people to achieve this—but professional educators do know—and they must be given the tools, support and encouragement. I can only recognize the need to do so.

The great American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, once remarked: “Look out for the boy or girl who has to plunge into work direct from the common school and who begins by sweeping out the office. He or she is the dark horse you had better watch.” This was Carnegie’s acknowledgment to keep your eye on those that “start running when they wake up” as they have the principal ingredients for success, namely determination, drive and ambition.

When one owns a piece of the action, one takes far more interest in maintaining the health of the business and the environment in which it operates. You want to make both better by serving your customers and the community. To do so, you wake up running every day to better fulfill that need and, of course, to make money.

1Friedman, Thomas, The World Is Flat

(William H. Stewart is an economist, historian, and military cartographer.)