If the CNMI spends the $13 million under the State Small Business Initiative program by 2017, the CNMI may see its return in local loan programs tailored to fit the needs of a growing economic base, according to Nancy Montoya, U.S. Treasury consultant and principal at TTA Consulting Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an allocation that comes down from Treasury. We have to get the funds out by 2017 but if we are successful, and successful in making good loans, then when Treasury exits the program in 2017, we get to keep those funds here,\u201d she said, adding that both the principal and the interest of these funds may be used locally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of this is it can be tailored to meet the needs of local businesses. It can change to meet what the needs of the businesses are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said if the tourist base grows between now and 2017, some businesses may need to borrow money to provide services to the growing casino industry, such as tour services.<\/p>\n
So far, four loans have been closed under the program, with five approved for a total of $990,000, according to Aaron Wood, loan officer of the Commonwealth Development Authority.<\/p>\n
Of the loans closed, three are for businesses on Saipan, and one on Rota.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot more money to use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
About $4 million is already at the local level, according to Wood. While the program expires in 2017, the \u201cimportant deadline\u201d is June 2015, when 80 percent of the $4 million must be committed to receive the next batch of funds.<\/p>\n
A total of 18 jobs have been created on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in the last six months with the loans that were closed, Wood said.<\/p>\n
Business expo<\/strong> These people ranged \u201call along the spectrum,\u201d from businesses that are just starting to ones that are expanding, according to Wood.<\/p>\n He said the SBBCI essentially allows businesses that are turned away by banks due to a shortfall in collateral to avail of this credit enhancement program.<\/p>\n Also if these businesses need technical assistance with packaging business plans to entice bank loaners, then CDA refers them to the CNMI\u2019s Small Business Development Center\u2019s director, Perry Inos.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to see small business opportunities. We\u2019re excited to see new entrepreneurs follow their goals and vision. We\u2019re just happy to be a part of this,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n Some of the ideas Montoya has heard from aspiring businesses range from fishing to alternative energy, retail to auto part stores, restaurants to other service industries.<\/p>\n One of the big success stories of the expo, she said, was how people from \u201call walks of life\u201d participated, like women entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen are opening business faster than men. It\u2019s really great to see a lot of women here on island come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n From top elected officials to people running the \u201crestaurant next door,\u201d Montoya said, the island community has been \u201cso supportive\u201d of the program.<\/p>\n Turn that \u2018no\u2019 into a \u2018yes\u2019<\/strong> \u201cWe try to take your \u2018no\u2019 to a \u2018maybe.\u2019 Then we try to transition your \u2018maybe\u2019 to a \u2018yes,\u2019 with the SBBCI program,\u201d said SBDC\u2019s Inos.<\/p>\n Banks often turn businesses away for lack of collateral, which is common on island.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the matchmakers. We make borrowers as ready as they can be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n SBDC can help loaners prepare financial feasibility studies, taxes, sales projections, financial statements, \u201cthe whole nine yards in accounting,\u201d Inos said.<\/p>\n Because some banks on island consider business running for two years to be \u201cstart-ups,\u201d it can be difficult to get banks to trust the proposals of these businesses, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to take the banks and the borrowers and put them in one room and see the demand, and today [at the expo] I think they were overwhelmed. I think it\u2019s going to be a good relationship now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Right now, the small business community in the CNMI is \u201cbooming\u201d in preparation for a different economy, according to Inos.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s booming quicker than we can respond,\u201d he said. \u201cAll these little businesses who can bring tourists will have a bigger customer base.\u201d<\/p>\n More tourist agencies, ATVs, adventure packages, eco-farms, more customers for hotels, and more farms supplementing them can be expected, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have more business licensing approved this year than last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He believes the SSBI program can help sustain the success of these businesses and the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to take $13 million and turn it into $100 million. If we insert $13 million into banks, these banks will have more reserve to push out more loan securities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If the CNMI spends the $13 million under the State Small Business Initiative program by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[56,26,186,67],"class_list":["post-183101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-business-3","tag-cnmi","tag-initiative","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFrom bank representatives to local entrepreneurs, over 125 people showed up at CDA\u2019s Small Business Banking Expo at the Hyatt Regency Saipan last Saturday to learn more about the opportunities under SBBCI.<\/p>\n
\nMontoya called the CNMI SBDC the \u201ccoach for businesses\u201d looking to get loans from banks here.<\/p>\n