THE U.S. Department of Commerce-Economic Development Administration approved a $10.7 million recovery grant that will fund the new workforce development center at the Northern Marianas College.
“This project will provide the Northern Mariana Islands with the necessary workforce training facility to strengthen the economic resilience of the region that is vulnerable to natural disasters,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement.
“The project’s location in an Opportunity Zone will drive additional private investment to the Northern Mariana Islands,” he added.
Dana Gartzke, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, said the project will help the Northern Marianas “respond to the economic impact of Super Typhoon Yutu by expanding the training of skilled workers to meet the current and future demands of local employers….”
Gartzke said the project location in an Opportunity Zone is “critical to enhancing economic development.”
Northern Marianas College Interim President Frankie Eliptico expressed appreciation for the U.S. Department of Commerce and the EDA.
“Our campus community is grateful to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the EDA for the grant funds, which will help support critical workforce development and economic recovery activities that will benefit the CNMI,” Eliptico said.
He said the grant from the EDA is part of the larger efforts of the college to pursue funding for a new campus. Many buildings at NMC were destroyed by Super Typhoon Yutu, which also caused considerable damage to classrooms, laboratories, the bookstore, cafeteria, offices, and other spaces.
“So for the past two years we have been working on securing funds to help recover and to help build a brand new campus for our community, for our students and for our future students,” Eliptico said.
The NMC workforce development center, he added, will house its business and nursing programs and will become the venue for the other training programs and innovations of the college.
He said the NMC business programs include critical workforce development program such as accounting, computer applications, hospitality industry management and other business management courses.
The center will likewise house the NMC nursing program that includes an associate degree in nursing and a certificate program in nursing as well as new programs that will help build up the CNMI healthcare capacity: radiology technician, medical technician, laboratory technician and other related healthcare industry workforce capacity activities, Eliptico said.
“It will also house other workforce programs and training activities,” he added.
He noted that Covid-19 has caused an increase in demand for healthcare workers.
“So we are working to secure partnerships with local and off-island institutions to implement new programs that will build healthcare capacity in the CNMI,” he said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has estimated that Super Typhoon Yutu caused over $800 million in damage on Saipan and Tinian.
In a separate statement, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said, “The grant funds will help Northern Marianas College build resilient, technologically advanced, and energy-efficient facilities to meet the workforce and education needs of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
He added, “We are thankful to the Trump administration for their help and support of NMC’s long term recovery and rebuilding efforts. The new facilities funded by the EDA will help NMC expand and sustain critical programs for our community moving forward as the College commemorates its 40th anniversary in 2021.”
The $10.7 million funding that NMC stands to receive goes to one of the CNMI’s 20 Opportunity Zones that were created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
The EDA said Opportunity Zones are “spurring economic development in economically distressed communities nationwide.”
