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Some $2.7M still available for small biz loan program
The Commonwealth Development Authority is still working on deploying some $2.7 million left in their small business loan program ahead of a June deadline.
CDA loan manager Oscar Camacho disclosed that there are two projects he is hoping will go through that will bring the expenditure of funds past this threshold. He could not disclose more details of the projects.
About $4 million of a potential $13 million from the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Initiative must be deployed at the local level right now. Eighty percent of the $4 million must be committed by June to receive the next batch of funds.
Right now, Camacho said they have deployed about 25 to 30 percent of these funds. But there are close to $2 million in loans processing, he said.
If the CNMI does not meet the June deadline, two things could happen: they could request that they be permitted to go on with the program, or not, he said.
Last March, Camacho told the Saipan Chamber of Commerce that only two banks have so far been involved in the program. Yesterday, the CDA board worked on approving a resolution that would help City Trust Bank participate in the program.
