Previous Story
NMTI expects to get $10M for a new campus
The Northern Marianas Trades Institute is confident that they will be granted $10 million by the U.S. Economic Development Administration early next year for the construction of a new campus.
In an interview with NMTI chief executive officer Agnes McPhetres, she said NMTI applied for a grant with the EDA worth $10 million to start the construction of the NMTI campus in Koblerville.
McPhetres reported that she was informed that NMTI is at the top of the list of recipients and should get word about the funding in February or March of 2020.
McPhetres explained that NMTI wants a new campus because the current one is flood-prone.
“We’re going to moving away from here because this is a flood zone. When it rains, we need to watch if the water is coming in. We tried everything we could to get the water out [but it’s] not a good facility. It’s not adequate for a trade school. It’s OK when you’re starting off,” she said.
McPhetres said that the only requirement that EDA is waiting on is a report from the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Historic Preservation Office to ensure that no bird breeding grounds are bothered and that there are no burial grounds that could be disturbed.
“We are at the top [of the list] to get [the funding] but there are two requirements that we haven’t finished yet…the research on the birds, whether we have birds over there or historical stuff. Those are the things that are kind of holding us up. When the reports are finished, we will submit that to [Washington. D.C.] and the money can be released,” she said.
Although the funding is expected early next year, McPhetres said it could still take another two years before the construction of the facility is completed.
“It’s still going to take time because we have to send out a bid and then we have to look at the bid and start the groundbreaking, so it might take two years. Maybe by the third year we will be able to fully implement it,” she said.
