THE House committees on Judiciary and Governmental Operations, and Ways and Means on Thursday released the list of businesses and non-profit organizations that were awarded Building Optimism, Opportunities, and Stability Together or BOOST grants which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.
The list shows that the first batch of BOOST recipients were awarded grants on Oct. 5, 2022.
The recipients included Hong Ye Trading, Co. which requested $655,000 but was awarded $100,000, and Santos Acres, LLC which sought $443,000 but received $150,000.
House JGO Chair Celina Babauta, who co-chairs the joint panel, said “in the interest of transparency and to be fair to everyone, we will submit the list of approved BOOST awardees today, for the record for this hearing, thereby making it a public record.”
House Ways and Means Chairman Donald Manglona, the joint committee co-chair, asked Legislative Assistant Cameron Nicholas to assign exhibit numbers to the two-page list. The list of awardees on Tinian is exhibit 36; the list on Rota, exhibit 37; and Saipan, exhibit 38.
Citing the testimony of Bank of Saipan President John Z. Arroyo on Tuesday, Babauta said that the last batch of awardees received their funds on Dec. 16, and those names were not included on the list that the joint committee released Thursday.
Babauta said the joint committee will soon release the list of applicants whose requests for BOOST funding were denied as well as the list of the approved BOOST Fisher, Farmer, Rancher awards.
Rep. Tina Sablan, a member of the joint committee, said that according to Office of the Governor Chief of Staff Wil Castro, there are at least 50 applicants who requested BOOST funds for workforce development, but have not been approved. She also wants to see that list.
On Saipan, the total BOOST amount requested was $47,219,178 and the total amount awarded was $10,550,000.
Of these amounts, $8,420,000 was awarded to businesses including $500,000 for Bank of Saipan, $200,000 for Saipan Horse Course, $200,000 for Terry’s Snack Bar and $200,000 for Peps International LLC.
On Tinian, the total amount requested was $6,419,236.43 and the total amount awarded was $1,730,000. These included $225,000 for Lovebirds Restaurant, $200,000 for Tinian Shipping Services and $120,000 for DC Coral.
On Rota, a total of $4,754,923.52 was requested and $1,160,000 was awarded. Those who received BOOST awards on Rota included Finatan Kutura Association which got $45,000 and Vicente Atalig Jr.’s Luta Green Gold Farm which obtained $75,000.
Zero BOOST
Andrew L. Colburn Sr., the managing partner of 360 Restaurant in Susupe, said several restaurants on Saipan, Tinian and Rota, received BOOST funds, but not 360 Restaurant.
He said their restaurant shut down for four months in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This happened just two months after the restaurant reopened as a new corporation in January 2020.
“So, as you can see, my timing was not the greatest. However, as soon as we were allowed and able to, we reopened to serve the island a few months later,” he said.
During that period, Colburn said, “we lost a lot of money. I had to borrow and invest my own money in 360, as did my partners who also, by the way, own the submarine business that took tourists around the island.”
Colburn said the people who were awarded BOOST money probably deserve it, but some of the restaurants that got $100,000 or more — “I have never heard of them nor have a lot of people I talked to.”
Colburn believes that the governor “knew firsthand how much we struggled during the pandemic as all restaurants did during that time. We stayed open to serve the island at a great cost to us but we have received no grant money.”
Kagman horses
The list of recipients indicated that the owner of the Kagman-based Saipan Horse Course, which was awarded $200,000, is the same owner of Lovebirds Restaurant on Tinian, which received $225,000, and of Flower Tea House in Garapan, which obtained $125,000, for a grand total of $550,000.
Former Tinian Dynasty Casino Hotel Assistant Manager Alexandra Jing, the owner of Saipan Horse Course, Lovebirds Restaurant and Flower Tea House, declined to comment.
Saipan Horse Course, her Kagman horse ranch, charges customers for horseback riding, picture taking and other activities.
Spirit and Dragon are two of the horses of Kagman-based Saipan Horse Course, one of the BOOST grant recipients.
House JGO Chair Celina R. Babauta
House Ways and Means Chair Donald Manglona
