'Creating opportunity' among goals for new Saipan Chamber of Commerce chief

In regional headlines, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce has a new executive director at its helm. KUAM News sat down with Kimberly Camacho to discuss her plans to advocate for the private sector.

Camacho said, "As soon as I asked myself if this was a joke I sat myself down and gave myself a pep talk and told myself 'You can do this!' It is just another obstacle and a challenge which you can turn into an opportunity." The 31-year-old Camacho brings 13 years of administrative experience and 7 years in management into her new job as the executive director of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce. Her job now is to make opportunity for others in unprecedented times for the local and global economy. 

"One of my main goals for being in this position is to basically rebuild its network and services for our members and the community to ensure that our members get the best of their investment in the chamber and hopefully we can by rebuilding our networks and services under the chamber we could on board more more members under the chamber," she said.

She's just on her first week on the job, but she says she's keeping her ear to the ground for what the private sector's needs are.

"Definitely workforce and retaining that work force is definitely a goal. I want to see if there are ways that we could help our members hire and retain their employees as well as offer trainings that could help the workforce build," she said.

That workforce becoming all more important as the government attempts to resurrect the Japan market and revitalize tourism before federal funds run out.