GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres announced on Thursday that the U.S. Economic Development Administration or EDA awarded $1 million to the CNMI Office of Planning and Development under the CNMI Office of the Governor.
The grant funding will be utilized for CNMI initiatives for economic revitalization, recovery, and growth, and support work that builds on the CNMI’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy priorities and ongoing Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan implementation efforts to enable the CNMI to assess and implement opportunities to diversify the economy and invest in critical planning and capacity building needs.
Through EDA’s Statewide Planning Grant Program, under the American Rescue Plant Act, states and territories may avail themselves of funding to plan for economic recovery and prepare to build back better.
The award will support long-term sustainability planning efforts that align with EDA investment priorities through implementation of the following three planning support components: (1) economic recovery and feasibility carry capacity study; (2) economic recovery planning education assessment, training, and incubator integration, and (3) socio-economic planning liaison for project management, coordination, and capacity building.
“We are thankful for this opportunity provided by the EDA, as well as their continued partnership. This award will help our Commonwealth as we continue to recover from the effects of not only this pandemic, but also the major typhoons that we have faced in the past several years. Through aligning the use of this award with OPD’s existing plans for development and economic revitalization, we are mapping a way forward through the economic impacts of this pandemic by reassessing and reinvesting in the CNMI’s critical socio-economic systems,” the governor said.
“I want to recognize OPD Director Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong and his team for their work in coordinating on the proposal to EDA for the Statewide Planning Grant Program. Thank you for continuing to play a vital role in planning the CNMI’s sustainable economic and infrastructure revitalization projects,” the governor added.
“The EDA has been a vital partner to the CNMI as we have struggled through numerous disasters and the recent Covid-19 pandemic. The additional data collection, analysis, and comprehensive planning support made possible through this award will help the CNMI build resiliency to ongoing stressors and shocks highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic while allowing us to continue progress towards our sustainable development objectives,” said OPD Director Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong.
Ralph DLG Torres
