Rumford translation firm used in war effort

RUMFORD – With more than 500 subcontracted linguists providing services in the war effort overseas, World Wide Language Resources Inc. has more than doubled its staff since 9-11.

The company provides interpretation, translation and language training services to the military and other businesses overseas.

Employees have been based in a host of countries in the Middle East and South East Asia since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. Most are now located in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This was the only company from Maine, however, that has contracted services overseas to assist in war efforts thus far, according to the offices of U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.

A conference between members of the Iraqi Governing Council and a group of business leaders to brief companies about business opportunities in Iraq was scheduled to occur last fall, but was postponed by organizers.

The event, to be sponsored by the University of Maine’s School of Business, Public Policy and Health and the U.S.-Iraq Business Alliance, was canceled when the two Iraqi officials who were scheduled to attend were unable to make the trip.

It was anticipated at the time that the conference would be rescheduled for the spring.

A protest against the conference was led by the Maine Peace Action Committee, the Peace & Justice Center and a host of students and some faculty members last November. Demonstrators criticized the University of Maine for its involvement in promoting American businesses to make investments in Iraq.

The protesters, who still have concerns about the university’s connection with the occupation of Iraq and its promotion of U.S. business overseas, will hold a free teach-in to bring together students, academics, activists and residents to examine the consequences of U.S. foreign policy for the people of Maine and Iraq, as well as the university’s role in the war.

The teach-in is open to the public and will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at UM’s Neville Hall. Speakers will include Peter Lems, associate for Iraq at the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia, and Jim Valette, research director for the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network of the Institute for Policy Studies.

“We’ve had no negative experiences,” Scott Owings, director of business development for World Wide Language, said about the company’s involvement in war efforts overseas. The company has grown immensely since the war began and is contributing to the local economy, he said.

“We used to be in a farmhouse in Andover,” Owings said. “Now we own two buildings in downtown Rumford.”

World Wide Language Resources hires people from all over the United States who are fluent in English and also speak Arabic or other necessary languages.

“We do hire local people overseas when the need requires, but the vast majority of people we send over there are U.S. citizens who have security clearance and came to the U.S. as refugees and want to help in the war effort,” Owings said Wednesday.

The company hires people from communities in parts of the United States that are largely populated by speakers of the necessary language. For example, Owings said, Dearborn, Mich., is a hub for Iraqi Arabic speakers, while Freemont, Calif., and some small communities in New York are occupied by many Afghanis who speak the native language of Pashto.

World Wide Language Resources provides employees with interpreter training and guidelines on how to work for or with the military and other related agencies. Translators also are familiar with the customs and traditions of native people.

The military then gives translators rudimentary training on how to use basic equipment, such as gas masks.

“The rest is just learning as they go,” Owings said.

About 33 people work in the central Rumford office, with more then half of them coming from the local area.

When Owings joined the company last May, fewer than 20 employees worked in the office.

“We’ve almost doubled in less than a year [and] we’re still seeing an increase,” Owings said.

The company has begun to shift its efforts in some areas.

“We’re still providing to the government mostly, but we’re now starting to provide to private agencies,” said Owings. The private agencies include construction and insurance companies that are heading overseas to be part of the reconstruction efforts.

Owings noted that Maine’s congressional delegation has “been a godsend to small business like us.” He said that competition is rough when going up against enormous companies and that the delegation has fought hard to get small businesses a fair chance at the competition.