By Mark Rabago

GARAPAN, Saipan — Triple J Motors General Manager Sean Ficke loves the islands through and through, and despite school and work having brought him to the U.S. mainland several times, he’s now happy to call the NMI his home. 

The 47-year-old joined the Garapan auto dealership that sells Mazda, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi vehicles in February 2019, after a short stint at Triple J Saipan’s corporate office.

“I always enjoyed vehicles, and I just thought that the dealership would be a good challenge for me, and I was excited to try it.” The first couple of years at the helm of Triple J Motors was a sweet ride, Ficke says. It was the heyday of the Saipan casino —Imperial Pacific (NMI) LLC — and he couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Then came Super Typhoon Yutu and the COVID-19 pandemic, and everything came to a screeching halt. Ficke believes that the NMI will eventually recover.

“The one thing with Saipan is I feel like it’s a roller coaster. You know, you can never compare last year with this year. There's always a new challenge, something that we're going through, if it's a typhoon or it's a pandemic, or you know, tourism is up or down. It's just always coming up with new solutions for whatever the current challenges are, right? So, it kind of keeps me on my toes, which is exciting,” he said.

Ficke said throughout all the turmoil, which he believes comes in seven-year cycles, he’s glad that he has a solid team behind him at Triple J Motors and loyal customers who have stayed with them come hell or high water.

“We've got an amazing team, and we've got amazing customers, and Saipan's an amazing place. So, with that being said, I kind of knock on wood that we've done well throughout the highs and lows, and our market share has grown, and we've brought in more vehicles, and we're getting ready to build a new dealership, which is exciting,” he said while adding that it might be a nine-year cycle now if you take into account COVID-19.

And speaking of Triple J Motors’ new dealership facility, it will soon rise at a site that encompasses where the Atkins Kroll dealership, the Marianas Visitors Authority office, and the Latte Build Gym used to be in Oleai, and Ficke said he couldn’t be more excited about the possibilities their new headquarters will offer.

“I think there are about five or six buildings over there. We're going to have a new service building, and we're excited to go from about seven to about 14 bays, which is doubling the size of our technicians. Then the dealership itself will be getting a transformation, we will be having higher roofs and a larger showroom area, and we've got some fancy technology coming along with parts and service. We've updated our software that we're using in the dealership now, we've got a different Dealer Management System and Customer Relationship Manager.”

Ficke said while there’s no definite date when the new Triple J Motors dealership will open, they’re targeting sometime in 2026 to make the move.

Before joining Triple J Motors, the Maui, Hawaii-born Ficke worked for Jones & Guerrero, which owns Aquarius Beach Tower in Chalan Kanoa and runs the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise next door. 

Ficke literally has business running in his veins, as aside from being the grandson of Guam businessman Kenneth T. Jones, he also started an ATV, zipline, and wedding photo business in his birthplace of Hawaii shortly after graduating from Campbell University. Initially brought in at Triple J on a project for the master concessionaire for Managaha Island, Ficke found himself as the new general manager of the company’s auto dealership after the retirement of Randy Steele.

He said he always loved cars—he founded Taga Customs soon after arriving on Saipan—so he never doubted the fit with Triple J Motors. 

Outside of work, Ficke busies himself with his other passion—sports, specifically surfing, jet skiing, paddleboarding, golf, and lately, pickleball. In fact, he’s part of the board of the Pickleball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands.

What initially was supposed to be a one-year extended vacation to Saipan in 2016 has turned into living in paradise with his family—wife Lisa and daughters Sophia, 16, and Leilani, 13.

“We were only planning to come for about a year, and we just fell in love with Saipan, the people, the culture, and how safe it is. The island is not only beautiful, but it's relatively safe. You know, even compared to Guam, compared to everywhere in the world.” Ficke said what the island lacks in amenities—it just lost Regal Cinemas, T Galleria by DFS, and Saipan Tribune—Saipan more than makes up with its beauty, tranquility, and the hospitality of its people. 

“I do believe in the people and Saipan and the community as a whole — that we will be able to rebound as long as we work together and learn from our mistakes. There's nothing that we can't overcome. I'm very proud to call Saipan home, and I’m blessed to be here.” 

Ficke said living and working in the NMI is actually like living a memory he had when he was still a little boy.

“I remember watching TV in the Royal Taga [Hotel], when I was a kid, and I remember going to Tinian when my grandfather had the dairy farm as a kid, and growing up on the Cliff Hotel in Guam. I really feel like, I'm happy to be home in the islands, and I'm grateful for the job that I have with Triple J, and I look forward to the future of the NMI.”