USVI Economic Development Authority, Bureau of Economic Research outline financing, housing and workforce priorities before Senate committee

Wayne Biggs Jr., chief executive officer of the U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, and Haldane E. Davies, director of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Economic Research, testified June 9 to the Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture about ongoing programs and constraints shaping economic recovery and growth.

The Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (USVI EDA) told senators it operates four main pillars—the Economic Development Bank (EDB), the Economic Development Commission (EDC), the Enterprise Zone Commission (EZC) and the Economic Development Park Corporation (EDPC)—and is working to convert federal grant awards into loans, facilities and jobs while managing a constrained local appropriation budget.

“The authority has a $6.6 million local appropriation and manages more than $85 million in federal grants,” Biggs said. “We are growing our portfolio, but our local allotment has been essentially flat, which constrains staffing and operations.”

Why this matters: EDA programs funnel outside investment, administer loan guarantees and operate two industrial parks that sponsors and agency leaders said are central to attracting light manufacturing, cold‑storage and renewable‑energy assembly. Committee members raised concerns about staffing, compliance capacity and whether the territory is recovering an appropriate share of tax and community benefits from beneficiaries of EDC incentives.

Key program details and metrics cited in testimony

- SSBCI‑2: The territory was allotted $57,865,000 under the U.S. Department of the…