US awards $266K for A. Samoa projects

Congressman Eni Faleomavaega has received notification from the Administration for Native Americans office of the Department of Health and Human Services that “Native Resources Developer” and “Aquaculture Cooperative of American Samoa” have been awarded a combined total of $266,777 in federal grants.

Awarded under the HHS Social and Economic Development Strategies program, the Native Resources Developer will receive $190,000 for the second phase of its Samoan Fishery Development Project while the Aquaculture Cooperative of American Samoa will receive $76,777 for its aquaculture project development.

“The SEDS grants are aimed at encouraging community and individual productivity through community development and to reduce dependency,” Congressman Faleomavaega explained.

“It is a competitive financial assistance grants program that supports locally designed projects that address community needs and goals toward self-sufficiency,” he said.

“I am pleased to see that there is a growing number of our people that are taking advantage of these business development opportunities and are competing for these federal grants,” Faleomavaega continued.

“I congratulate both the Native Resources Developer and the Aquaculture Cooperative of American Samoa for submitting successful proposals.”