NMC told to tap federal funds for SBDC

The Northern Marianas College should seek federal funding for its graduate internship program under the Business Development Center to offset the loss of local funds provided annually by the Commonwealth Development Authority.

This was the reaction of Rep. Karl T. Reyes to the termination of the grant agreement between NMC and CDA on the heels of brewing controversy over the college’s Small Business Development Center.

“It is incumbent upon the college to look for federal grants to fund the program which is truly meant for local businesses,” he said in an interview yesterday.

CDA Board Chairman John S. Tenorio said the decision to cut its assistance was fueled by the failure of NMC-BDC to carry out its program as he noted that it attracted only three interns this year despite the $93,000 budget from the agency.

But Mr. Reyes, who is vice chairman of the NMC-SBDC Advisory Council, maintained the performance of the program does not depend on the number, but on the quality of service provided to the community by graduate students who come from the U.S. mainland.

These interns work with local students to help local businesses in terms of technical assistance and other operational requirements which they have learned from school, according to the representative.

“Are we after quantity or the quality of their work,” he asked. “I’d rather have a small number of people who give their best rather than a large number lacking in quality performance.”

Mr. Reyes lamented CDA’s decision, saying this is another blow to the college which he claimed has done a lot of things for the Commonwealth over and above its supposed tasks and responsibilities.

“We should rally behind the college. As a two-year institution, it has accomplished things that a four-year college is expected to achieve,” he added.

Mr. Reyes said: “It’s a higher learning institution and under the Constitution, they are mandated to offer programs for the benefit of the Commonwealth. Some leaders conveniently ignore that.”

Established in 1981, CNMI’s lone higher learning institution has drawn criticisms in recent years over management of funds and implementation of policies, including the Educational Assistance Program granted to NMC students.

In the past few weeks, NMC officials and some lawmakers, including Mr. Reyes, have slammed move by both CDA and the Pacific Islands SBDC Network based in the University of Guam to close the college’s SBDC program by the end of this year.

They charged PISBDCN Director Jack Peters of sowing smear campaign against the local program to get back at NMC officials who turned down his attempt prior to leaving the college to corner a $10,000 contract over an economic study he used to administer.

Mr. Peters, who headed NMC-SBDC from 1994 until his departure in April of this year, has denied the allegations, saying the transfer to CDA was a last-ditch effort by the U.S. Small Business Administration to efficiently manage the local program.