Q&A with Chamber president Charles Cepeda

The scars on his wrist attest to the adventurous spirit of Charles Cepeda, who, as a youth, loved competing in motocross competitions so much that it nearly snatched away his life when his bike ran off the racetrack on Tinian and smashed into a tree.

This time, Cepeda is back on track as he enters a new phase in his life, taking on a multitude of tasks and goals as a family man, business executive and as the newly installed president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.

Born in 1968, Cepeda grew up exposed to the family business as the oldest of four children of couple Felix B. and Linda V. Cepeda. His family owns the M.S. Villagomez stores, and various commercial and residential buildings on different parts of Saipan.

When he was a student, Cepeda would complete his assignments in his father’s office at the M.S. Villagomez store in Garapan, which he would later manage at an early age.

“I was still at a young age when I was exposed to the business. In my high school days, I was working late. After school, I would go straight to the store and stay up to closing. Sometimes, I was responsible for closing the store, accounting the money, securing the money, closing down the store, and securing the store,” recalled Cepeda.

His childhood days not only displayed his potential in the business sector, but also his leadership. He became student council president of the Marianas High School, where he reaped academic honors. Cepeda later moved to California to complete higher studies, taking up Business Management at the Chabot Community College in Hayward.

Cepeda started a professional career outside the family business as warehouseman for Montgomery Wards, a big retail store in Hayward, while studying college at the same time. As a working student, he rose through the ranks and held management positions in various departments, including running the store’s Jewelry Department, the inventories of which were worth millions of dollars. Cepeda had also worked for the store’s various outlets in California.

Cepeda came back to Saipan in 1992, a decision that would start the local career of a rising business executive and leader. He initially joined Joeten’s Athlete’s Foot and Las Vegas Golf and Tennis stores, where he was manager/buyer for three years beginning 1993. In the course of his transactions, one of his clients, a Pacific Trading Company Ltd. executive, invited him to join the company that he would later head as general manager.

Today, Cepeda juggles several hats, not only as husband to wife Cathy and father to 22-year-old Cyji, and as PTC’s top executive. As president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the motocross aficionado steers not just his bike on the bumpy, rugged racetrack, but also the entire business community in the Commonwealth amid tough economic times.

Wearing casual shorts and shirt inside a Susupe restaurant, the Chamber president took time off from his hectic schedule one afternoon to talk about his views on the CNMI’s business climate, government, and his life over sandwiches and a cup of coffee.

Saipan Tribune: Why did you come back?

Cepeda: In 1992, when I came back home, there were a lot of changes in my life personally, and I thought there was a boom here on Saipan—a lot of real estate properties were being sold. I thought I’d come back home and make something out of the boom for myself.

I started as sales manager for PTC in 1996. I really enjoyed it, met people, new friends, but it was very different from my exposure to the retail business. In retail, you wait for customers; in sales, you go out and look for customers. It’s challenging. I learned to greet and say ‘hi’ to people. Sometimes even those I don’t know, I would definitely greet them. Sometimes I need to slow down a bit because the culture here…sometimes people think that it’s politics.

Saipan Tribune: Do you have any [political] plans in the future?

Cepeda: I have no plans of running for politics. I think I can make more difference on the business side and convincing politicians on how to help the community rather than actually being a politician. Politics would be tough for me. I applied working in the government and I never enjoyed it. At least I’m selling a product and I’ve got to believe in that in order to sell. Politics is involved with criticism. I’ll probably not sell them…(laughing)

Saipan Tribune: When and how did you become PTC’s top executive?

Cepeda: What happened was that I was working for the government and I left Pacific Trading for 10 months. I was working for the Marianas Visitors Authority. I was one of the community planners…and then my former boss, John Calvo, called me one time and we had lunch. We sat down and discussed the possibility of me coming back to Pacific Trading as general manager. All he’s asking for was two years, just to see if we like each other to help him get the company back into shape. That was 2001. Four years later, I’m still here. I’m very honored to represent the Calvos—they’re a big family and their business is so big—and to represent them here in the CNMI, I take that as a big honor. I’m honored that I represent the Calvo family on-island. I always do my best not to disappoint them and for them not to be ashamed of who represents them.

Saipan Tribune: In PTC, how have you made a difference as a boss?

Cepeda: One of the things that I have taken pride in Pacific Trading is that the workers are happy. I have 36 employees. I can’t please everybody, but I try to be fair to everybody. I’ve helped Pacific Trading become a successful company in the past four years. The company has been involved in a lot of community service, and I made PTC a part of the community.”

Saipan Tribune: Now that you are the president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and you head a company of 36 employees, how do you manage your responsibilities?

Cepeda: When I thought about taking on the position as Saipan Chamber of Commerce president, I saw it as an advantage for me and for Pacific Trading to help improve the economic situation in the CNMI and also the business climate on Saipan and the CNMI. Pacific Trading is probably one of the top five of CNMI companies as far as business revenue is concerned—if not in the top five, then definitely in the top 10. It should be heard so it could make a difference in the business climate. What I mean by that is that the changes that happen within the CNMI will definitely affect Pacific Trading directly and indirectly. Having to run both the company and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce is just a marriage for each other because they go hand in hand. If one fails, let us say, Pacific Trading, the Chamber of Commerce should suggest the changes and help improve the economy. Saipan Chamber of Commerce is comprised of business partners of Pacific Trading. The same people who are part of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce are also the same people who are part of the partnerships that Pacific Trading has, and those include the government agencies that are part of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.

Saipan Tribune: What are your plans as Chamber president?

Cepeda: One of my goals…is to get everybody in the business community involved with the Saipan Chamber of Commerce in one way or another, whether they become members or just helping in how to improve the business climate.

Saipan Tribune: You’re not interested in politics, but if you are the governor of the CNMI, what are the first three things that you will do to address the CNMI’s ailing economy and the business climate?

Cepeda: One of the biggest things is the way the businesses on-island are treated. The business climate in the CNMI is not to do business here. The way I see it is that there’s a lot of challenges. There are a lot of restrictions that do not merit a good business climate. If I was governor, this would be the first thing I would do—to hear all these concerns that businesses here in the CNMI now have, listen to their concerns and make adjustments to help them be comfortable and be profitable. Some people would say—there are some suggestions about reducing fees and taxes, giving tax incentives to businesses—those are good ideas and that may work. But the government needs to operate as well. The government and the business sectors are partners and they need to feed each other. There are a lot of revenues that could be generated from the companies by helping the businesses on-island in gaining more sales. The scariest thing right now is that there are businesses closing down and leaving because of the business climate here in the CNMI.

The other thing, what else I’m going to do to improve revenue in the CNMI—there are several ways you can improve revenue—and it comes down to simple enforcement of the law: tax collection. There are several products that are high volume or high revenue generating for the CNMI. Some of those products are not necessarily available everywhere—duty-free items, premium items—those create revenue for the CNMI, but you need to protect those businesses that bring them in properly and bring in the real items. Counterfeit items—they need to be stopped at the borders so that they don’t exist on-island. Counterfeit items [project negative] image for the CNMI, that we are counterfeit. When the tour agents bring in Japanese tourists in the CNMI, they were looking for quality, expensive items. The taxes are high on those items. But now you can get the fake ones on-island and there are non-legitimate businesses that do that and it hurts our image. Bringing in cigarettes from Asia is illegal. Those cigarettes [companies] from Korea do not pay a penny into the Tobacco Fund that the CNMI receives annually. If the [cigarettes are] sitting on the shelf, that means that money is not going to come in.

The third one is definitely to look at reducing the number of employees within the government agencies by not necessarily abruptly removing them, but move them to departments that would need them. Move them around within the government because there are some that would need them and some that definitely would not need them. It’s not to remove everybody from the government because where are you going to put them? We can remove all the garment workers and constructions workers who are contract workers on-island, but those people in government will not work in those positions because their pay [in the government] is twice as much. They have a lifestyle to live up to. But moving them around within the government will help utilize them properly and efficiently. If they quit, then they have the resources within themselves to find a job in the private sector. The other way to reduce government employment is vocational training and education for the service industry so they can enter the private sector. Instead of sending them to United States or Asia for conferences or seminars or training for Fish and Wildlife, have a Fish and Wildlife education, a vocational subject, at NMC, and they can do it. They can attend the class two days out of the week, and still get paid for working at Fish and Wildlife. That keeps us all training here instead of going to Portland, Oregon, which has swamps and lakes and not a beautiful ocean like we do—and coral reefs. Just like DPS, we don’t send our cadets to be trained in other places. We train them here, and we should bring in trainers to the CNMI. Have them go to the College and earn degrees from there, so they could be used when they go to look [for jobs] in the private sector.

Saipan Tribune: Besides being the Chamber president and company executive, what do you enjoy doing?

Cepeda: I just spend a lot of time with my wife, Cathy. She’s been very patient with me. Sometimes, we just hang out together in the house. She’s always cooking for me and I just enjoy being with her doing things. But what we really love to do is going to the church together and getting massages together. We regularly get a massage. And the other thing that I’ve started to pick up in life is golf. And I love motocross.

Saipan Tribune: How long have you been into motocross?

Cepeda: I grew up riding when I was a kid. I used to ride in the mini-bike division when the track was up at People’s Park. I was 10 years old. At that time, it was good competition. It has helped me make friends. When motocross started to come five or six years ago, it’s the same people I used to ride with before. Now, there are the old ones I used to ride with and the new generation that is coming out and riding.

Saipan Tribune: Motocross is a dangerous sport. What do you like about it?

Cepeda: It’s just the thrill of the danger. It is a dangerous sport. I’ve broken my ankle. I’ve broken my wrist, and then knocked out completely on Tinian and when arrived on Saipan, I woke up at the hospital. It’s the thrill of the danger.

Saipan Tribune: What was the worst thing that happened?

Cepeda: Other than breaking bones, the worst and scariest thing that ever happened to me in motocross was when I raced on Tinian. I hit a tree, I got knocked out. That was back in the mini-bike days. I was 13. It was an official race and I crashed. All I remember was that I was buckled up inside a pickup truck and they were transporting me to the airport. Then I looked up and I remember my Dad there with a few people who were concerned for me. I went blank and I remember waking up here on Saipan the next morning. Nowadays, I don’t go as fast and I don’t fly as high as some of the veterans who are here. Even though I love the thrill, I’m still scared out there in the truck—scared to jump that high, scared to go that fast. It’s the thrill to be up there and try and fly and go the speed.

Saipan Tribune: Did the accident discourage you?

Cepeda: When I got into the accident, my Dad threw away the bike and never put me on a bike ever again. From that time until four or five years ago, I never rode a bike. I started getting back up when they started bringing motocross back on Saipan. But it took me two years before I actually got a bike and actually rode again. Three years ago, I broke my ankle again, but I’m still riding. Now, I just go to a race, I don’t even practice. I’m just there to ride and enjoy.

Saipan Tribune: Any final words?

Cepeda: One thing that I want to say is ‘thank you’ to my wife for being supportive and making it very easy for me to maintain a tight schedule between work, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and my family.