Senate plans to allocate funds for NMC’s own SBDC

The Senate yesterday stood pat on its plan to appropriate funds to a Small Business Development Center under the Northern Marianas College if the federally-financed program is transferred to the Commonwealth Development Authority.

Senate Floor Leader Pete Reyes has firmly opposed the transfer of the U.S. Small Business Administration funded program from the college to CDA. He maintained that the SBDC should remain at the NMC even if it entails additional funding from the CNMI government.

“If there is no way the transfer of the program from NMC to CDA can be stopped, the only remedy the Legislature can do is to find resources to fund another SBDC at the college,” Mr. Reyes said.

The senator has persistently urged the administration to intercede against CDA’s takeover of the program on behalf of the college but claimed that his requests landed on deaf ears.

“If the governor doesn’t want to do this [stop the transfer], we will pass a budget with the inclusion of funding for this [NMC-run] small business development program. This is a promise from me as vice chairman of the fiscal affairs committee of the Senate,” he added.

Mr. Reyes maintains that the SBDC transfer from NMC to CDA requires either the approval or support of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio. He said the governor has remained mum on the issue and has not informed the Legislature whether he has given the go-signal for the transfer or not.

“I assume that it requires the governor’s approval because before the transfer, Mr. Jack Peters who is now a member of the program from Guam visited the governor to ask for his support to transfer the program to CDA,” he said.

The Senate wants to retain SBDC under the administration of NMC where it has been since the program was introduced in the Northern Marianas.

However, the U.S. Small Business Development Administration based in Guam has decided to uproot the center from the college to CDA citing inefficient management.

NMC remains unfazed by the transfer and is likely to come up with its own small business development center, which received strong support from legislators who vowed to find ways to fund the program.

“I hate to see a duplication of the program but I think it can be more effectively and efficiently run in the college and that’s where it belongs. I’m still asking the governor to let the legislature know whether he subscribed to the center’s transfer from NMC to CDA,” Mr. Reyes said.

CDA has taken over the program which aims to intensify business activities in the islands through entrepreneurship and better management.

Board Chair John S. Tenorio bared plans to administer programs under the Small Business Development Center in close partnership with major business organizations in the Northern Marianas.

The Development Authority intends to hold business workshops and seminars in partnership with the Hotel Association, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association and the Northern Marianas College.

SBDC under the government’s major lending arm will try to reach out to more clients through seminars and workshops focused at identifying the types of business activities that are likely to make profits.