Source: American Samoa
Gov. Togiola Tulafono says he has given assurances to StarKist Co., owner of the StarKist Samoa cannery, of the government’s commitment to work with the cannery and do whatever possible to help them became more globally competitive.
Togiola’s assurance was made Tuesday during a meeting with StarKist’s new chief executive officer and president, In-Soo Cho, who was accompanied to the meeting by StarKist vice president of supply chain Pat Moody and StarKist Samoa general manager Brett Butler.
StarKist spokesperson Mary Sestric, based at the company’s headquarters in the U.S., told Samoa News two weeks ago that Cho was visiting all StarKist facilities over the coming months and that he was eager to meet all StarKist staff and tour their operations. Cho’s visit to Pago Pago included a meeting with the governor.
Togiola said yesterday that he had an “excellent meeting†with the StarKist management team, that the meeting was basically an introduction, and “and it was cordial and frank.â€
“I offered to them whatever assistance the American Samoa Government can give to assist the business and hopefully help keep it competitive globally so we can continue to enjoy the partnership again,†said Togiola responding to media questions. “After all, as I said to Mr. Cho, our people in American Samoa consider StarKist part of our family, and it’s my job to keep the family together. Similarly, Mr. Cho stated that Mr. J.C. Kim is especially fond of this place, and he believes that he considers it part of his family as well.â€
Kim is chairman of South Korean based Dongwon Industries, owner of StarKist Co. and Kim had worked many years ago in the fishing industry within the territory and is very familiar with American Samoa and the local tuna industry.
Togiola said the most important thing about the meeting was to learn from top StarKist management that “StarKist continues to look farther ahead than most critics are willing to concede, and I acknowledged that with a warm Faafetai and expression of appreciation.â€
“In return, I gave them reassurance of our commitment to work with them, and to do whatever we can within our authority to help, and also express my appreciation that what we have been doing to try and solve the minimum wage issues and taking care of the cold storage and the energy requirement issues have not been in vain,†the governor said.
“We pledge also to embrace all the people who can help with these issues, like our Congressman [Faleomavaega Eni], our friends in the federal government, to help us solve these obstacles that we must overcome in order to make our industry competitive in the region and in the world,†said Togiola.
“I believe we are entering a new era in our relationship with the industry, and I personally am enthusiastic and confident that we will continue the momentum Chairman J.C. Kim and his management team have brought to the table to make it possible to keep StarKist operating in American Samoa for a long time into the future,†said Togiola.
According to the governor, the American Samoa Government will do its part to give StarKist all the support necessary to maintain that competitiveness in the world.
Togiola’s positive attitude towards StarKist is in contrast to his past months of harsh criticism against the company, accusing StarKist of not being forthcoming with financial data dealing with its top executives’ pay scale and not supporting the territory’s concerns over the minimum wage increase.
The governor had also criticized the company’s plans last year when they implemented a reduction of working hours, laying off close to 300 local workers last August, as part of phase one; but phase two of the layoffs remains on hold - for now.
While StarKist has since begun hiring fish cleaners to meet the demand, Butler told the Senate late last month that this is only a temporary growth - which was made possible through internal cost savings and other assistance, including the ASG tax exemption and the federal 30A tax credit extension.