Mendiola-Long recognized by CNMI SBA

Philip Mendiola-Long

Long-time businessman Philip Mendiola-Long won the Small Business Administration Regional Award from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands called “The U.S. Small Business Administration 2020 Phoenix Award Nominee-Volunteer” at the Saipan Chamber of Commerce general membership meeting held last week at the grand ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Saipan in Garapan.

The award was given by CNMI Small Business Development Center director Nicole Babauta and according to her, Mendiola-Long is the first recipient of this award for his exceptional volunteer work in helping the community of Tinian recover by tirelessly leading fundraisers and facilitating relief operations and donations after the devastation that Super Typhoon Yutu brought.

Babauta highlighted all of Mendiola-Long’s work with which the award was based. Mendiola-Long was one of the first people on Tinian to take initiative after Typhoon Mangkhut and Super Typhoon Yutu. He faced complete losses at his fuel station and catastrophic damage to his home and office. After losing both his gasoline pumps to the storm, he immediately used hand pumps and a long, metal tube to pull gasoline from his in-ground tanks in order to supply emergency and military vehicles,” she said.

“He then reached out to his friends, family, and business partners to facilitate a relief drive and served as the main contact for logistics, distribution, and management for Samaritan’s Purse’s international aid to the island. In fact, he used his own office for the distribution center, used his own vehicles for the pickup and delivery of goods, enlisted his own family and friends to perform the labor… Philip used social media to solicit from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, and Guam when he set up a GoFundMe page which raised nearly $7,000 for relief efforts and coordinated fundraisers and donation drives in Guam and Las Vegas. This effort also enabled him to bring in two full 40-foot containers and a large private ship of relief goods from Guam, a 40-foot container of relief goods from Hawaii, and over 20 boxes of aid from Las Vegas,” she added.

For his part, Mendiola-Long said he could not have done it without the help and support of many. “The island of Tinian was hit hard… I lost my entire business, home, and I had nothing else left… Instead of being down, I used all my emotions to give back to the community and luckily, I have a strong ‘ride or die’ partner, my wife Arley… It was a team effort from me and my volunteers and we thank Bridge Investment Group, Tinian Mayor’s Office and the [Tinian Legislative Delegation] who were all there to support us… The Samaritan’s Purse really came through to help us… without them, this award would not be possible,” he said.

“It is nice to be recognized but also important for everyone in this room, all the business community members, that we should do our part to help the community now more than ever. Those who are blessed enough to reach out, now is the time,” he added.