No decision yet on transfer of SBDC

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday refused to get involved into the brewing controversy over the closure of the Small Business Development Center from the Northern Marianas College, saying he is not aware of the ongoing FBI probe on its former director.

He reiterated his earlier position of ensuring that federal funds granted by the U.S. Small Business Administration to the local program will be kept in the CNMI and whichever agency will handle its operations on the island.

“Whatever the outcome of the investigation, I have no knowledge,” Mr. Tenorio told reporters yesterday in an interview when sought for comment on the issue.

Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes last week wrote to the governor to appeal against approving the transfer of the center to the Commonwealth Development Authority until after the completion of the investigation on ex-SBDC director Jack Peters.

Mr. Tenorio had met with Jack Peters, who now heads the Pacific Islands SBDC Network based in the University of Guam, CDA Board Chair John S. Tenorio and other SBA officials last October to discuss, among other things, the planned transfer.

But he denied claims that he had given his blessings to the move, saying he did not participate in making any arrangement to close down NMC-SBDC and move the office to CDA.

They were trying “to find a way to save the federal funding that we are receiving [and] they would try their best to make sure that [we] maintain the program because … we need it very badly,” said the governor.

While the CDA has opted to distance itself from the probe, its chairman has stressed that the money is on hold pending this action and the ongoing inventory of its assets being kept with the college.

Chairman Tenorio also said that CDA has yet to officially run the SBDC program as the governor has not given his consent. The agreement between SBA and NMC expired last Dec. 31 after it was not renewed due to concerns on the way the college managed its funds.

Mr. Peters, who left NMC last April, has come under fire in recent weeks from NMC officials and some members of the Legislature over his recommendation to move the local center to CDA just months after he resigned from the college.

Former NMC President Agnes M. McPhetres has requested the inspector general’s office of the SBA field office in Los Angeles to investigate Mr. Peters for possible federal program fraud arising from his handling of funds granted to SBDC.

The embattled director has repeatedly denied the accusations, noting SBA officials want to transfer its administration to CDA to efficiently manage the thousands of dollars in financial assistance given each year to the CNMI.