The grant, if awarded, will make the long-awaited slaughterhouse a reality.
Aside from Arctic Circle Air Company which businessman Tony Pellegrino has put up to help ship local produce off-island, farmers and ranchers were also offered an opportunity to participate in the U.S. Treasury program that will allow them to borrow money from banks.
After seeing Pellegrino’s presentation on his air cargo venture, the 30 participants during last week’s meeting also heard from CDA Development Corporation Division manager Oscar C. Camacho who spoke about the $13 million CDA is applying for.
This money, Camacho said, will help CDA, local farmers and ranchers “leverage” loans with the banks and other financial companies on island.
CDA is still communicating with the U.S. Treasury regarding the grant application.
“That is what we are trying to see if we can get an approval,” Camacho said.
If the application is approved, CDA can use $7 million for the loan guarantee program and $6 million for a loan purchase arrangement with banks.
The goal of the program, Camacho said, is to serve as a “catalyst” so that banks can loan money to farmers and ranchers, and stimulate the economy.
By serving as a guarantor, the program will entice banks to loan money so that farmers and ranchers can develop agriculture as an alternative industry here.
CDA facilitates and administers the State Small Business Credit Initiative.
Camacho said “we are hoping to set a trust account with the banks and of course, purchase a loan.”
All this, he said, will instill some confidence in the community so people can borrow from banks.
CDA, he added, has five years to accomplish U.S. Treasury requirements.
Camacho said “there’s a lot of room here to push loans out.”
CDA has identified some of them “and we know we can do it,” he added.
He believes the slaughterhouse project and the air cargo venture can turn the economy around.
“This is the time that we need help and I hope that we can satisfy Treasury’s reviewers with our responses and get an approval,” he said.
Pellegrino said many people have expressed interest in buying Marianas Meat Harvesting Company shares. Most are farmers and ranchers here, he added.
“This is a community project that aims to motivate farmers and ranchers to grow crops and raise farm animals. Doing that will help keep the money here,” Pellegrino said.
“It is a motivation and a ray of hope,” he added.
Pellegrino said farmers and ranchers who are interested can invest $50 to $500 in the company.
The slaughterhouse will be built on a 4,000- square-meter lot in Puerto Rico across from oil depots, and the company already has two U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified meat inspectors, an expert in food processing and certified butchers.
Local farmer Isidoro T. Cabrera said the slaughterhouse will have its ground breaking any time soon.
Saipan used to have a slaughterhouse in As Perdido but it was not USDA-certified. It shut down in the late 1990s.
