The Saipan Chamber of Commerce\u2019s virtual monthly general membership meeting last Wednesday also served as a chance for Chamber members to meet and hear two of Saipan\u2019s senatorial candidates: incumbent Sen. Sixto Igisomar (R-Saipan) and former Labor secretary Edith Deleon Guerrero of the Democratic Party<\/p>\n
In what was billed as \u201cCoffee with 2020 Saipan Senate Candidates,\u201d the two shared their views on the state of the CNMI economy, workforce, the pandemic, and other issues, plus their mandates if ever they are elected.<\/p>\n
Igisomar said his work in the Senate and current platform is an offshoot of his work as a former Commerce secretary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have devoted my time as a senator to expand economic industries, work hard for businesses, and to help investors thrive in our economy \u2026The management of our economy is the most important priority of our Commonwealth and it requires a comprehensive community approach that includes homes, villages, non-governmental organizations, private sector, and federal partners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow more than ever we need everyone\u2026 helping small businesses should also be a priority\u2026 \u2018Think big, start small\u2019 this should be our theme to stabilize the economy. \u2026We need to diversify our economy. \u2026Let\u2019s go back to basics\u2014agriculture, fishing, and work on \u2018one island, one product\u2019 mentality. Although we are faced with a pandemic, we need to make things work so we will have a sustainable community,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
For her part, Deleon Guerrero\u2019s platform works around proper, good, and sound financial management in government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current situation is not the best for our Commonwealth. \u2026We need to spur the economy and create an environment that will promote economic stability and take care of the needs of the people. \u2026We have a lot of federal money that came in from the U.S. government like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance\u2026and Paycheck Protection Program. For PUA, we need to accelerate the process of releasing them so we can give it out to the community and help spur more consumer spending and the will also help businesses,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026We need to encourage stakeholders like the Commonwealth Development Authority to roll out funding for small businesses or even existing businesses for much-needed working capital to keep them going until we get out of this COVID-19 situation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Deleon Guerrero is no stranger to public service. She served as Labor secretary until she left the post in 2017. As a private citizen, she manages her own business and has immense experience in banking and insurance.<\/p>\n
When asked what they think the biggest challenge of the islands is, Igisomar said it would be labor and immigration. \u201cThese are not under our control and up to now, I am still baffled on how we can achieve a sound economy with so much limitations in our much-needed labor force\u2026the labor issue has impacted our hospital\u2026 Unlike the U.S. and other nations, we are expected to rely on our local workforce to stimulate the economy\u2026there should be no room for poverty, unemployment\u2026we are expected to be perfect\u2026 which I find unfair because as a young territory, we have a lot of work ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe learning curve to replace foreign workers has been challenging and costly for the community and businesses. The labor issue has impacted the nurses in our hospital, construction, rebuilding, skilled workers for CUC, and so on. We do have training and support from DOL, Northern Marianas College, Northern Marianas Trade Institute, Latte Training, but the output from our local and federal partners is falling short. These are the things we need to work on,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Deleon Guerrero said there will never be an end on the need for training. \u201cThe need to continuously fund the education system should not exclude NMTI. \u2026NMTI is a trade school. \u2026Not everyone will go to academic [schools] so we need to look at the opportunity to start training programs and pump money to training plumbers, construction workers, masons, electricians, etc. as these areas of significant training and skill building. This will also encourage entrepreneurship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople keep taking about that there\u2019s no money but again it takes us back to when we had money and what happened to all the money? We will always need workforce development to access foreign workers to help our economy but we need to first invest in human capital,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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