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Kilili: FEMA waives local match for COVID-19 costs through June 30
SBA awards NMC $659,990 to establish first-ever Lead Small Business Development Center on 3 islands
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Posted on Mar 07 2022
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (MP-Ind) said over the weekend that the CNMI government will not be required until June 30, 2022, to provide a local match for assistance received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for COVID-19 costs.
Sablan also disclosed in his e-kilili newsletter that the Small Business Administration has awarded the Northern Marianas College $659,990 this week to establish the Marianas’ first-ever Lead Small Business Development Center on Saipan, along with centers on Rota and Tinian.
On COVID costs, the delegate said FEMA’s waiver saves up to $5.75 million on the Commonwealth’s $23 million request for reimbursement that is currently under review.
Sablan
He said FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell announced the decision to continue the local waiver for all territories and states in a call Tuesday with the National Governors Association.
Sablan said the CNMI has already been granted a waiver worth $10.3 million on $41,124,864 COVID-19 aid from FEMA.
Sablan said the money has paid for the safe opening and operating of schools, COVID-related medical care, and vaccination and testing efforts.
The delegate said this is the third time the Biden administration has saved the CNMI and other cash-strapped local governments significant amounts of money with the local match waiver.
Without this intervention from President Biden, the federal cost share would have shifted to 90% in July 2020, although the statutory minimum federal cost share is 75%.
As for the Lead Small Business Development Center, Sablan said business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in the Marianas will get new support services though the Small Business Administration grant program he authorized with language in the National Defense Authorization Act in January 2021.
He said the development center at NMC was previously ineligible for Lead Center funding, as it was just a sub-office of Guam.
Sablan’s legislation gave the CNMI its own Lead Center, where businesses will be able to receive free or low-cost services such as incubator workspaces and assistance with loan applications, business planning, operations, personnel administration, marketing, export assistance, sales, and other requirements for growth and success.
