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CNMI leaders push Marianas USA branding, highlight SSBCI and STEP supports for small businesses
Summary
Officials and agency directors described coordinated outreach to investors, new investment materials and federal small-business programs — including SSBCI and STEP — as tools to attract investment and support local entrepreneurs while flagging bank lending hesitancy and political risk to future federal tranches.
Agency leaders and lawmakers at a House Commerce Committee meeting discussed efforts to market the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to U.S. and regional investors, while describing federal small-business tools already in use and the constraints that may limit their impact.
Committee members heard that the commonwealth is circulating an “investment packet” and planning trade missions to raise awareness of the CNMI’s advantages as U.S. territory in the Asia–Pacific. “We’re really gonna be aggressive in promoting the CNMI, trying to create jobs, bringing investment in,” a presenting director said, noting the package has been shared with the Senate president and the Speaker of the House.
The discussion centered on two federal programs: the State Small Business Credit Initiative 2 (SSBCI 2) and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s State Trade Expansion Program (STEP). Kiyoshi Cody, manager of the STEP grant for the Department of Commerce’s economic development division, described STEP’s services for small…
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