[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 82 (Friday, May 18, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E684-E685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO THE JONES FAMILY, TRIPLE J ENTERPRISES, INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 18, 2018

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, Robert H. Jones, his wife Margaret A. Jones, 
and their family are known in the Marianas and throughout the Western 
Pacific for their successes in business. They are also known for the 
vision and heart with which they have used their personal successes for 
the benefit of the communities where they live and do business.
  Born in North Carolina, Robert (``Bob'') Jones moved to Guam in 1957 
to work for the company his brother Kenneth had started--Jones & 
Guerrero, Incorporated. Bob would work alongside Ken for the next 24 
years, rising to be Executive Vice President and Chief Operating 
Officer of the company.
  In 1984, though, he struck out on his own and established Triple J 
Enterprises on Guam, a reference to the Jones' three children--Julie, 
Jeff and Jay. Starting with a Subaru distributorship he bought from Ken 
the company did well, later venturing up two years later to Saipan in 
the Northern Mariana Islands.
  From the inception, it was a family business: Margaret did the 
buying, handled advertising and public relations, and was the company 
treasurer. Sister Georgia J. Stafford also lent

[[Page E685]]

a hand when needed; and the children helped out cleaning cars and 
working in the parts and service departments.
  At first, Triple J distributed Subaru automobiles, Hino heavy trucks 
and buses, and Bluebird school buses. As business grew they added the 
Ford, Mazda, Lincoln, Hyundai, Isuzu, Suzuki, Volvo, Honda, Acura, Kia 
and Mitsubishi brands to the company's automobile business portfolio. 
And when the children returned from college the business began 
expanding beyond automobiles and beyond Guam and the Northern Marianas.
  In 1987, in alignment with Bob's visionary persona, Triple J began 
working in wholesale foods and retail grocery with a business on Ebeye 
in the Marshall Islands. Further expansion years later added nearby 
Majuro, where the company today continues to operate similar 
businesses. In 1998, the wholesale business would expand west to Palau 
along with a bakery, convenience store, and Shell service station.
  Triple J would further diversify into the restaurant business 
beginning in the mid-1990s with the purchase of an Outback Steakhouse 
franchise on Guam and, later, Tony Roma's, Capricciosa, Bubba Gump 
Shrimp Company, and Great Harvest Bakery franchises on Saipan. 
Scheduled to open in 2019, a Red Lobster franchise restaurant now under 
development on Guam will be a new addition to the restaurant group.
  In 1994, Triple J had a hand in negotiating the arrival of K-Mart on 
Guam. That store, bucking a national trend of closures, remains to this 
day one of the most successful K-Marts anywhere.
  Into the new millennium, by 2005 Triple J had grown to be the fourth 
largest business in Micronesia, as ranked by the Guam Business 
Magazine. The Guam Chamber of Commerce named the company Business 
Laureate of the Year and inducted Triple J into the Guam Business Hall 
of Fame--the youngest corporation to receive the honor.
  And they just kept growing. Triple J acquired Hertz Rent-a-Car rights 
and became exclusive distributor in all of Micronesia for Solahart--an 
Australian solar water heater company.
  Capitalizing on another opportunity, Triple J developed a first-of-
its-kind affordable housing development on Saipan, subsidized by the 
U.S. Treasury's Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program. Sandy Beach 
Homes--a $27 million, 60-unit project--was completed in late 2011; and 
a second, affordable housing project--Saipan Comfort Homes--quickly 
followed with another 40 units.
  Sharing in the value of philanthropy, the Jones family and Triple J 
make efforts to enhance the quality of life of those in need. On Guam, 
Triple J partners with the American Cancer Society Guam Chapter 
annually to support their signature funding event, Relay for Life, 
raising as much as $40,000 in one year alone. In the Northern Marianas, 
the company regularly contributes to the Red Cross Walk-a-Thon, the 
Marianas March Against Cancer, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and numerous 
other charitable programs raising money for relief efforts and cancer 
research. They have also been the official car sponsor of the Miss 
Marianas Pageant and the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association.
  This larger concern for the welfare of the whole community came into 
further relief when the Marianas was hit by Typhoon Soudelor in 2015. 
The worst typhoon in decades, Soudelor carried sustained winds 
exceeding 100 miles per hour. In the wake of the devastation, which 
left most people on Saipan without power for a month, Bob Jones donated 
thousands of dollars in food to help the Salvation Army set up a hot 
meals program in Kagman, one of the hardest-hit villages. For his 
selflessness and support, when the community was in dire need, the 
Rotary Club of Saipan awarded Bob Jones its Citizen of the Year award 
in 2016.
  ``Customers first'' is Triple J's simple mission statement and yet, 
it holds a more complex meaning displayed in the actions behind their 
successes. That people-centric view serves as a model to other 
businesses in the communities they serve.
  Through all these years of dynamic growth, the importance of family 
remains central to the successes of Bob and Margaret. Son Jeffery is 
the president and chief operating officer of the company. Son Jay is 
senior vice president with a focus on automotive operations. And, while 
daughter Julie spends much of her time in a professional counseling 
practice, her husband, Dan Murrell, serves as senior vice president in 
charge of real estate, food, and restaurant operations. Mother Margaret 
remains company treasurer. Bob is chairman and CEO. Growing into the 
third generation, five of their eleven grandchildren have begun working 
for the family business. Today, the Triple J group employs over 900 
employees across the Micronesia region, many of whom have been with the 
business for twenty plus years.
  Please join me in thanking and congratulating true citizens of the 
Marianas, Bob and Margaret Jones and all their family for over 60 years 
of service and success in the Marianas and throughout Micronesia.

                          ____________________