David Robinson came to American Samoa for one year and ended up staying 12 and a half years.
But now he’s leaving the territory for good, moving to the south island of New Zealand where he will spend his golden years.
Those he has worked with will either like him or not but few can lay claim to the type of community contributions that Robinson has made.
He was Chamber of Commerce Chairman for six years, has been chairman of the Board of Hope House for about as many years, has been Treasurer of the American Samoa Rugby Union for some time and has also been very active on the Board of Pacific Horizons School.
In his various jobs at Panamex, Impex, the shipyard and Aeto Financial Services, he has been a generous contributor to schools, sports teams, and community organizations.
Robinson was also co chair of the Governor’s Economic Advisory Council under Governor Togiola Tulafono and was also Chairman of the Board of the Shipyard Services Authority.
Reflecting on his time here he says he ended up staying much longer than his one year assignment and wanted to contribute as much as he could to the community.
When he was in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and other parts of the Pacific he was also involved in a lot of the same activities that have become synonymous with the name David Robinson here.
But he now feels it’s time to “hang up his boot”s and say tofa to American Samoa, though he leaves the possibility open to reconnect with the territory in some capacity down the road.
Concerning his work with the Chamber of Commerce, Robinson says he tried hard to get businesses to join the organization and when he first became chairman there were less than 20 members.
When he stepped down there were more than 90 members.
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