Guam Governor delivers progress report to Guam Chamber members

BY JACQUELINE GUZMAN
Journal Staff

Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero told Guam Chamber of Commerce members that the island has moved beyond economic recovery and is now focused on long-term resurgence.

“Guam has moved beyond holding the line and into a moment of possibility,” Leon Guerrero said. “The question before us is no longer whether we can recover — recovery is underway. The question now is whether we are willing to do the harder, more important work: the work of resurgence.”

Leon Guerrero also pointed to gains in employment and ongoing efforts to strengthen Guam’s health care system as indicators of broader economic stabilization.
She noted that unemployment, which neared 6% during the pandemic, has since been reduced to 3.2%, while the administration continues to push for long-term solutions and a new hospital.

“Not long ago, uncertainty defined our outlook. Unemployment approached 6%. Now we have reduced it by nearly half to 3.2%,” she said, adding that the government remains committed to ensuring access to quality health care for the island’s residents.

The governor pointed to improved employment figures and stronger government finances as evidence of progress, noting that unemployment has fallen to about 3.2%, more than 6,000 jobs have been added since the height of the pandemic, and a $83 million deficit has been reversed into a multi-year surplus.

“This did not happen by accident,” Leon Guerrero said. “It happened because government, business, and workers chose responsibility over shortcuts and reform over delay.”

She said Guam must continue adapting to economic shifts rather than relying on past models. “This moment does not ask us to defend the past,” Leon Guerrero said. “It asks us to compete in the present and position Guam for sustainable growth.”

In closing remarks following the governor’s address, Edward G. Untalan, executive vice president and Guam-CNMI region manager and chairman of the chamber, thanked Leon Guerrero for her leadership and echoed the need for forward-looking strategies within the business community.

“What’s behind us is already gone,” Untalan said. “What matters now is what’s ahead of us, and how we continue to pivot and move forward together.”

He also acknowledged the responsibility carried by public leadership. mbj