Over 30 CNMI Government employees from executive line departments and agencies took part in a two-day grant writing workshop facilitated by the CNMI Office of Grants Management (OGM) under the Office of the Governor at the Governor Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center from May 28 to 29, 2020.
The workshop was aimed at assisting central government agencies with writing a successful grant proposal. Writing techniques, content structure, budget preparation, needs assessment, goals and objectives and basic uploading options were featured at the workshop.
According to Grants Management Administrator Epiphanio E. Cabrera Jr., the goal of the workshop is to write a well-thought out proposal and to have it uploaded to grants.gov under the Department of the Interior’s Technical Assistance Program (TAP) and Maintenance Assistance Program (MAP).
Topics proposed by participants vary depending on agency needs, but many were focused on enabling program requirements, COVID-19 response, and restoring professional capacities within government services.
“As a result of the training, a total of 23 proposals were uploaded as of this past Tuesday, amounting to $4,201,780 in promising competitive discretionary grant proposals,” said Administrator Cabrera.
Approximately $2.3 million is awarded annually to the CNMI from the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) under their TAP and MAP grant programs. To date, the CNMI has received approximately $900,000 from the TAP and MAP program for FY 20. Results of participant proposals are expected by July 1, 2020.
“With over $620 billion available in grant funding opportunities, the CNMI only receives about $120 million annually. This does not include the funds expedited from disaster and pandemic supplements— that number is three times higher or more. We definitely need more grant writers in our government’s professional pool, and the Governor and Lt. Governor are encouraging the training and development of grant writers as we deal with budget shortfalls as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Cabrera.
Governor Ralph DLG. Torres and Lt. Governor Arnold I. Palacios are encouraging more agencies to write for more federal dollars especially during these tough economic times.
“Governor Torres has committed to hiring more grants writers as more federal dollars are expected to be made available to the CNMI in the near future, but it would require a complete proposal before the grant award is officially received,” added Cabrera.
“We are working hard as a government to develop our grants writing capacity. OGM cannot do this alone, and all our departments and agencies need to do their part, especially in corralling in new federal dollars and managing them accordingly. Lt. Governor Palacios and I are committing to accountability of federal funds and grants management,” said Governor Torres.
“We thank OGM, Administrator Epi, and his team for putting the training together and for all the government employees that participated, including Tinian and Rota municipal staff via GoogleMeet,” added Governor Torres.
Administrator Cabrera anticipates more targeted grant writing and compliance workshops in the near future, especially from grant opportunities stemming from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Economic Development Administration (EDA). OGM intends to invite more participants including those from autonomous agencies in future workshops.
The event also featured a guest presenter from the Office of Insular Affairs: CNMI and Guam Field Representative Harry S. Blanco, who provided an overview of the TAP, MAP, and Energizing Insular Communities Grant funding programs.
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