It’s called Recession Tea — you let the tea bag steep for half the time you should, so that you can use it again.
In our current economic climate in the time of COVID, nothing is off the table — not even that cup of Recession Tea, not to mention that we are buying less tea bags, and that even tea bags can be in short supply.
In the past few issues of Guam Business Magazine, we have published Economic Outlooks — grim though they were — and a study from the University of Guam that showed the trickle-down effect of the university into our economy. Every statistic we publish in this magazine and its sister publication — the Marianas Business Journal changes rapidly.
As I write, we are facing the most thorough lockdown the island of Guam has ever seen.
The decision was announced on Aug. 20 — with half a working day of notice.
I am probably one of what Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero calls “the vocal minority” because for the last several months, part of my focus in life has been as a board member of the Guam Chamber of Commerce. And yes, like many of your civic organizations we have been trying to save what little commerce is left on our island.
That isn’t to say that businesses in Guam and our islands are not focused on COVID or the health and wellbeing of our employees, because of course we are.
Guam Business Magazine is a Glimpses of Guam publication. And occasionally at our office, we talk about the Glimpses Family. We know each other’s quirks and foibles — and also who has a mortgage, a partner in work — or not these days, and children in school or daycare (or not), and who their relations are.
In this issue, we have focused on 14 businesswomen — the Businesswomen of the Year who will tell you with remarkable honesty how they and their own various families have had to deal with the realities of keeping that tea on the table.
In our transportation story, there are also many plans for the future brewing — particularly at the Port Authority of Guam, which is also planning ahead.
Throughout the magazine there is talk about the future and rightly so — because if you are not planning ahead as a business leader, you are not doing your job. COVID or not that remains true.
We’ll see in future issues how all our stories turn out.
