OPA asked to probe BDC

Commonwealth Development Authority Board Chair John S. Tenorio yesterday said he will ask the Office of the Public Auditor to look into how public funds were used by the Northern Marianas College’s Business Development Center amid allegations of mismanagement.

According to Mr. Tenorio, CDA is not satisfied with the way BDC has run the graduate internship program, which gets an annual funding from his office. This has led CDA to terminate the grant agreement with NMC-BDC this year which resulted in the loss of some $93,000 funding this year for the Center.

“We want to know how the funds were used once and for all. An audit will definitely help clarify things which we believe needs to be explained,” he said. BDC’s main task is to help local businesses in drafting marketing analysis, secure loans from the bank and draw up feasibility proposals.

Some eight to 12 students from the U.S. mainland are invited to come to Saipan every year under the graduate internship program either in June or July. However, this year BDC was only able to get three interns to participate in the program.

In expressing his disappointment over the management of the internship program, Mr. Tenorio said CDA could use the money for other projects that will benefit local businesses such as providing taxation or investment workshops which can be handled by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.

CDA’s concern over the local SBDC program stemmed from the recent findings of an investigation alleging that the funds provided to the center is not efficiently managed by the Northern Marianas College. Instead of losing the federal grant of as much as $200,000 a year, Mr. Tenorio said, he would rather take over the management of SBDC from NMC.

U.S. Small Business Administration District Director Andrew K. Poepoe has already informed former NMC President Agnes McPhetres in a letter last Nov. 24, 1999 that his office will only get a host that capable of running the local SBDC program.

“To accomplish this goal, the members of the community of the Commonwealth must make the right decisions on how the SBDC program can best serve their business community,” Mr. Poepoe said.

Another letter sent to Mr. Peters by James L. King, state director of the New York Small Business Development Center, strongly criticized the failure of the College to adopt revised standards and meet SBDC Certification and guidelines.

Instead of conforming with the subcenter policies and procedures, NMC has opted to interpret the necessary changes that must be made as a personal vendetta of Mr. Peters, who used to head BDC prior to his appointment as PISBDC director in Guam.

“This effort seems to have been very destructive and deflected discussion from the fundamental issue of the program operating as a true network in support of constituent needs,” said Mr. King.

The Association of Small Business Development Center National Certification Committee through Mr. King had recently suggested that immediate steps must be taken so that NMC-BDC will not lose federal funding from the entire Pacific Islands SBDC Network.

“It’s final, we will transfer the management of SBDC program to CDA since we believe that it is very capable to handle it,” said Mr. Peters.

Contrary to claims made by some government officials, CDA is very capable of handling the program since it is the only institution in the entire Pacific to have been awarded the Microloan Program, Mr. Peters said.

As early as July 1999, SBA already made the decision to pullout the SBDC program from NMC when its representatives came here. But SBA was persuaded to allow the federally funded program to continue as long as the CNMI can find an alternative host to the program.