Convincing people to stay

Standing, from left, Jay Santos, Five Star Wholesale & Truckload Store general manager; Aoki Atsushi, Triple J Saipan, Inc. Restaurants general manager; Mario Valentino, Triple J Construction, Inc./NMTI board member; Tracy Guerrero, Triple J Saipan, Inc. corporate controller; Galina Iakimova, Saipan Surfrider Hotel Resort front desk manager; MariaValentina Haberman, Triple J Saipan, Inc. marketing manager; Frank Rabauliman, NMTI director of Administrative Services, Grants and Finances; and Perry Inos, Triple J Saipan, Inc. business manager. Seated, from left, NMTI board chair John Oliver Gonzales; NMTI CEO Agnes McPhetres; Robert H. Jones, Triple J Enterprises, chairman/CEO; and Frank Ada, Triple J Saipan, Inc. director of Human Resources yesterday at the Surf Club in Chalan Kanoa. (Bea Cabrera)

Convincing island residents not to leave would require, at the very least, having a job here.

That would mean being taught about that job, getting hands-on learning to gain the rudiments of doing that job, and eventually being hired to perform that job.

That is what Triple J Saipan, Inc. would be striving to do with the Northern Marianas Trades Institute. The two inked a memorandum of agreement yesterday, with the ultimate goal of making local residents stay in the CNMI by developing the workforce and expanding job opportunities for them.

The joint endeavor seeks to benefit both Triple J employees and NMTI students: the former will get additional training to become more competent in their jobs and the latter, assured job placement at Triple J and its affiliated companies after study and on-the-job training experience.

The program will help students be certified for entry-level positions that includes front desk representative, restaurant server, maintenance employee, guestroom attendant, and kitchen cook. The certifications are being done in partnership with the American Hotel and Lodging Education Institute.

According to Triple J president and COO Robert Jones, they are working with NMTI to respond to the needs of the CNMI tourism industry.

“We started working with them a couple of months ago. …We don’t know what’s going to happen really with the CWs and so we are doing what we can to train locals. We already have about 70 percent local employees…and we are doing everything that we can to increase that percentage,” he said.

“We believe that NMTI students, after proper training, will fill the need of our restaurants so this is pretty critical and we are looking forward to this partnership. [NMTI CEO] Agnes (McPheters) and her team are doing a good job with our staff and hopefully we can improve the service to the people of Saipan through this schooling,” he added.

Jones, whose company has been in business on island for many years, believes that the future of the CNMI lies in its tourism industry.

“In the past many years, tourism is our main economic factor and I would encourage…people to consider the food and beverage industry because it’s here to stay. We have new tourists from China and South Korea and still quite a few Japanese coming and so we need to do all we can to be able to properly serve them in a satisfactory manner,” he said.

“Satisfied tourists will tell other tourists about their Saipan experience. This way, we can increase our tourism industry when we have tourists leaving the island happy. We don’t want tourists to have a bad experience, so good food, price, and service go together and we are continually improving and working on those,” he added.

Triple J has six restaurants in operation and the need for employees is always there.

“We need people to fill positions that our restaurants need,” he said. “The tourism industry is very dynamic and we want to be able to keep up, that’s why we need employees and it doesn’t only helps us, it helps the economy.”

McPheters said that this partnership with Triple J opens job opportunities to anyone who wants to put in the hard work.

“It is not just about training people but training for job placement. The students are assured of a job after study… The partnership will cater to 30 culinary students per year as there will be at least 10 students per cohort,” she said.

“NMTI and private companies are here for everyone,” she added

NMTI board chair John Oliver Gonzalez said that aside from training the future workforce, NMTI is doing its part to gain more recognition from accrediting institutions.

“Currently, our programs are U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship certified…as well as other national certifications. However, we want to extend and expand as a recognized trade institution,” he said. “The goal of the board is [for NMTI] to be an accredited institution where more opportunities to acquire federal financial assistance and grants can be achieved and have a high standard so our students will stay in the CNMI.”