Joeten Kagman a model for ‘green building’

A crowd of dignitaries, businessmen and members of the public took part in yesterday’s grand opening of the Joeten Kagman Market, an over $1 million investment that incorporates environment friendly design and features.

Community members welcomed the new market’s opening for creating local jobs and providing convenient shopping to Kagman residents who now no longer need to drive to either San Vicente or Garapan to shop, thereby saving them time and gas.

“Besides employment and convenience, the store’s main feature is that it is locally owned and operated, which is rare nowadays,” Jesse Torres, president of the Kagman Komunidat Association, told Saipan Tribune during the grand opening ceremony.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial announced that Joeten Enterprises will also soon break ground for the opening of a new health clinic in Kagman.

Norman Tenorio, a member of the Joeten Enterprises Inc. board of directors, said they have spent well over a million dollars in reinvesting in the CNMI, especially in the Joeten Kagman Market building, despite the deep economic recession.

“Someone asked me, ‘Why would you spend so much money when the economy is down?’ I answered, ‘We’re not thinking about the short term. We’re in this for the long haul. This is our home and we’re here to stay,’” Tenorio said.

He said the store is dedicated to the people of Kagman.

“I think we can expect more great things to come in this area. I’m confident in our future and as Kagman continues its development, we at Joeten will be right by your side. We’re not yet finished. This is only the first phase,” he added.

The grand opening coincides with Joeten Enterprises’ 60th anniversary. Tenorio said both are “milestones for our community and our business.”

The governor, in his remarks, said Joeten Kagman Market’s opening shows Joeten’s firm commitment to the success and growth of the local economy, as he congratulated the company on its 60th anniversary.

“I also want to applaud Joeten for working with our government agencies on Kagman watershed issues, and I encourage our government agencies, especially our permitting agencies, to work with Joeten to protect our environment while also facilitating commerce,” said Fitial.

Joeten Enterprises was founded 60 years ago by Jose Camacho Tenorio and his wife Soledad Takai Tenorio. The company has become one of the most successful locally owned companies in the region.

“I will always remain loyal to this family,” Fitial told the crowd.

Jesse V. Sablan, general manager of CMS, said the building has the most energy efficient design and features in the CNMI today, including the use of air conditioning units, freezers, chillers and lighting that consumes approximately 40 percent less energy than conventional buildings.

Sablan said the building faces the main road for maximum use of natural sunlight to illuminate the building, resulting in 60 percent less lighting.

“Ironically, the most sophisticated portion of this building’s culture is not inside. It’s all out here,” said Sablan, pointing to the surrounding area.

Sablan said from the highest point of the 37,927-square meter property to the front of the building is one huge water source. He said they built a three-stage natural filtration system that captures the entire site’s runoff water through a ponding basin at the back of the market, discharge the graded water into the swale across the street, and then to the Kagman watershed.

“We estimate approximately 3 million gallons of naturally treated water are contributed to the watershed and aquifers annually,” he said. “As the world embraces the ‘Think Green’ culture for the benefit of the environment, we at Joeten take it one step higher. We just don’t ‘Think Green’; it’s an attitude.”

The building’s contractor is CMS, while the subcontractors are RNV Construction and Wires Inc., along with MMC.

Bo Palacios, J.C. Tenorio Enterprises corporate special project manager, announced during the grand opening that Joeten Charitable Foundation renewed its partnership with the Commonwealth Cancer Association.

The foundation also donated $3,000 to the Marianas March Against Cancer and became a title sponsor.

Palacios also announced Joeten Enterprises’ launching of its own eco-bag initiative. The company ordered 10,000 Joeten reusable shopping bags.

“If 10,000 of us reuse the eco-bags at least 10 times in our shopping trips, that means we would have saved 100,000 plastic bags from getting into a landfill or littered along our streets, beaches or parks. That, my friends, is a big impact,” he said.

Last year, Joeten partnered with the Division of Environmental Quality to distribute reusable tote bags. It also partnered with Bank of Guam and Tan Holdings to encourage both their customers and employees to use their reusable tote bags while shopping at Joeten.

Torres said Kagman, which has grown to an estimated population of 5,000, now has big grocery stores, clinics, video shops, Laundromats, a gasoline station, and other public and private amenities that make it a self-contained community.

“I think what we now lacks in terms of businesses is a hardware store and bars,” he added.

Torres, however, said that Kagman has yet to have an efficient sewer and water system and still lacks paved roads in some areas, among other things.

Alfred Ada, principal of Kagman High School, said Joeten’s energy-efficient design is laudable.

“It collects runoff and then makes sure it goes back to the watershed. …What else can you ask for? That’s the most socially responsible gesture to the community,” Ada told Saipan Tribune.

Tona Tudela, a Kagman resident, it’s “great” that Joeten Kagman opened.

“Instead of us going all the way down to Dandan to go to the store, we’ll just shop here, and we save gas,” she said.

Also present during the grand opening ceremony were lawmakers led by House Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, former Lt. Gov. Jesus “Pepero” Sablan, and members of the Joeten Enterprises board of directors, including Clarence Tenorio, Annie Sablan, Patricia Palacios, Priscilla Tenorio and Frances Demapan.