34 April 2016 - Business View Caribbean
help develop local talent, improve the quality of manu-
factured products, and advocate for its members’ leg-
islative agenda both in the island’s legislature and in
Washington, D.C. “We are very active in visiting the
Capitol,” Garcia says. “We were up there once a month,
on average over the last year, because of the impact
that Washington decisions have on Puerto Rico.”
Garcia says that the PRMA also reaches out beyond
Puerto Rico to other countries in Central America and
the Caribbean, helping to foment the export of prod-
ucts and services from its members to those other
markets. “We are very actively involved in Guatemala
and the Dominican Republic, meeting with their manu-
facturing associations,” he says. “And we sponsored
three visits to Cuba in the last year, trying to under-
stand and evaluate the opportunities for business de-
velopment in Cuba, and making sure that our mem-
bers can look at what future opportunities are there.”
The PRMA’s staff oversees the Association’s major
components. “One of those components is service to
our members,” Garcia explains. “We have about 20
active committees focused on specific areas of en-
deavor, for example: environment, permits, transporta-
tion, supply chain, taxes, etc. So that component sup-
ports our members and committees. Another section
is marketing and sales development, which oversees
the conferences and seminars that provide updates to
our service members. We have an administrative staff
and an IT Director, and a communications and PR per-
son who interacts with the press. We also have a legal
counsel who provides services to companies that ask
for guidance. And lobbying and advocacy in Washing-
ton and the local legislature is one of our main thrusts;
making sure what our members want and need in
