TelEm Group is this year promoting St. Maarten’s Day actives at home and in the Netherlands to show the social and cultural importance of telecommunication services to the St. Maarten economy.
Thanks to an initiative by the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, St. Maarten residents and friends living in the Netherlands will be gathering to celebrate St. Maarten’s Day this Friday, even though they are many miles from home.
TelEm Group is one of the main sponsors of the celebration event in the Netherlands.
According to representative of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, Mr. Perry Gerlings, TelEm Group’s sponsorship will help to foster a feeling of togetherness and love of country amongst St. Maarteners living and working in the Netherlands but who wish to maintain a cultural link with home.
“If all goes as planned we could well turn this into an annual event that can grow each year and bring wider awareness to our activities on the island,” continued Mr. Geerlings, who also credited Prime Minister Mrs. Sarah Wescott-Williams with promoting the idea.
TelEm Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mrs. Helma Etnel, agrees that the initiative contains an important message about keeping in contact with friends and family with the host of telecommunication services now available on St. Maarten.
“St. Maarten’s Day has traditionally been a day when call traffic from St. Maarten to all parts of the world increases tremendously so we know there is exciting about sharing the joy of the celebration with others abroad.
“We thought it would be a good idea to help spread the joy around St. Maarteners themselves living in the Netherlands,” added Mrs. Etnel.
She said TelEm Group is making a special effort to reach out to the Community on St. Maarten’s Day including advertisements in the local newspapers and a giant banner adorning the TelEm Group building recognizing the day and especially the St. Maarten people.
She said locally TelEm Group has been offering very competitive telecommunication rates for international calls and also more international communication options with the company’s 3G-Plus Voice and Data service – The first of its kind on St. Maarten.
TelEm Group says it is using St. Maarten’s day to encourage local students to think about telecommunications as a career when considering their options for study abroad.
“We spoke to many students during last Friday’s Job & Career Fair at the Belair Community Center and found that many of them are very up to date on the new technologies and services,” said TelEm Group Training and Productivity Specialist, Ms. Kathren van Putten.
She said applications for Summer jobs at the company were very high. So much so that additional applications had to be ordered and promises made to forward more forms at a later date.
“The message is that TelEm Group is the incumbent telecommunication carrier that is owned by Government and therefore recognizes its corporate responsibility to these students at home and abroad,” continued Ms. Van Putten.
The TelEm Group personnel helping to deliver career messages to St. Maarten students are. Cheryl Rismay (Marketing), Margaritha Hodge (Sales/Account Mgt), Eion Gumbs (IT), Abigail Peterson and Donald Rombley (Finance/Accounting),Suraj Ramdas (Customer Care), Jed Carty (Engineering) and TelEm Group booth coordinator, Kathren van Putten (Training/Productivity).