CBMA: Military has a lot of residual income

Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs special assistant Daniel Aquino served as one of the guest speakers of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s monthly meeting last Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan. (MARK RABAGO)

While the military market won’t be enough to compensate for the loss of Chinese tourists, the Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs believes military personnel visiting the islands—be it for training or rest and recreation—will contribute a lot to the local economy. 

“I know that the governor has mentioned his pivot away from the Chinese market. But it’s not totally abandoning the Chinese market, but it’s just that we’re emphasizing the military because the military has a lot of residual income,” said CBMA special assistant Daniel Aquino during his presentation last Wednesday at the Saipan Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan. 

Aquino, who himself is a military veteran and used to run the CNMI Museum, added that local businesses stand to benefit a lot from the CBMA and Joint Region Marianas’ Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Quality of Life program.

MWR gives local businesses a chance to partner with JRM to sell its products and services to military personnel in Guam.

“[Especially] when we have our ships coming in. These guys have been on sea for months, so they’re looking for places to spend their money. So part of the MWR program is for these vacation packages to happen on Saipan. And that’s why I’m advising every one of you guys: You have to market your business. I cannot promise that every one of your businesses are going to benefit economically, it’s how you sell your business,” he said.

Aquino went on to enjoin Chamber members to register their businesses with the CBMA so they can immediately pass it on to JRM in time for the upcoming Innovative Readiness Training from July 9 to 22.

“One of the ways we can do this is if you register in our office so we can provide a list as a heads up with a JRM. We’ve already had businesses that we’ve been reaching out to as part of the list. The list includes businesses like food, restaurants, entertainment, and stuff like that,” he said.

Aquino added that the Chamber should work closely with CBMA so both local businesses and the military could come up with win-win solutions when it comes to their needs.

“I think what I’ll do from now on is that if there’s any wants or needs from the military, we’ll give it to the Chamber of Commerce. So any businesses that have warehouses and businesses that sell unique stuff, we can channel that into every U.S. Department of Defense component.” 

Aquino also shared to Chamber members that military personnel almost exclusively use credit cards for their purchases and encourages businesses that don’t have credit card machines to acquire them.

“From what I’ve gathered is that they operate through their cards. They use their cards for purchases. I’m not here to tell you how to run your business. I’m not here to tell you how to market your business. The only thing that matters is the military’s requirements as far as spending and one of the main things that they utilize are [credit] cards…And like I said, in the military they only use their cards. So go to the bank and don’t come to my office and ask for a credit card machine.” 

He added that PayPal is an alternative for credit card machines and businesses like Angry Penne, one of his favorites, has that option available for military personnel.

Micronesian Environmental Services’ John Gourley, however, said getting credit cards may not be a good option for small businesses.

“Bottomline is it’s not worth it if you only have purchases come in three times a year or four times a year…Credit card machines are great for companies that are selling food items, but for items that are not sold as often there is a problem of getting expensive [credit card machine],” he said.

The CBMA special assistant also said companies that want to secure contracts with the military should register under the System for Awards Management.

SAMS is a government website where businesses can register if they want to do business with the U.S. government. Those who want to apply for a federal grant or federal assistance must register with SAMs otherwise their business entity is deemed unofficial and not business worthy with the federal government.

Aside from the IRT three months from now, Aquino envisions a slew of other military activities set in the CNMI.

“We’ve already submitted applications to the U.S. Navy when it comes to requests for more port visits. More training exercises are also happening north of Saipan in Marpi.” 

As a parting note, Aquino asked the community to cut the military some slack and through the CBMA, he would like to help grow the economy by cultivating a stronger relationship between the U.S. Armed Forces and civilians.

“So let me just say this first. I know that there’s a lot of reservations about the military. When someone hears about the military, they think ‘oh, we’re gonna bomb the crap out of Pagan. That’s not true. The military has already stopped pursuing that issue. What we’re trying to do now is to try to facilitate. The governor and the lieutenant governor are more concerned about the economy. And how we’re trying to pursue this is through staycation packages. That was one of the meetings that we had with [the Marianas Visitors Authority] to try to provide some of the costs for the military to come here.”