Interior Provides $2.5 Million in FY 2018 Grant Allocations to Guam

WASHINGTON – Doug Domenech, U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, this week announced $2,452,082 in fiscal year 2018 grant funding to the U.S. Territory of Guam.  This year’s funding will support a wide variety of needs across the island from scholarships for training in trades, statistics and data, capacity building, utilities maintenance, network security and monitoring.

“Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and I are pleased to support Americans on Guam through these projects,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech.  “The projects either develop local capacity or provide improvements to infrastructure and equipment, helping to promote more self-sufficiency in the larger Guam economy.” 

Funds awarded to Guam for fiscal year 2018 follow:

• Office of the Lt. Governor - $498,225 provides for training of over 100 students in trade work at the Guam Contractor’s Association Trades Academy.  The purpose of the funding is to develop capacity of local residents, increase local participation in developing local economy, and reduce reliance on foreign workers.

• Office of the Lt. Governor - $498,272 in scholarship funding to extend opportunities for over 90 local students in the Tourism and Travel Management and Culinary Arts programs at the Guam Community College.  The goal is to develop local capacity in the tourism industry growing by an average four percent or roughly 4,000 visitors per year.  High school exit surveys have indicated that over 90 percent of Guam’s high school seniors did not plan to attend post-secondary education due to a lack of financial support.

• Bureau of Statistics and Plans - $494,657 is for conducting a 2018 Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES).  The last HIES was conducted on Guam in 2005.  It serves as the one of the most reliable economic data tools for re-basing the Consumer Price Index, measuring inflation, developing the Gross Domestic Product and other key economic indicators critical to business and government decision-makers.

• Department of Public Health and Social Services – $107,112 to provide professional review and certification of fixed assets at the Guam Environmental Public Health Laboratory including employee training and development of standard operating procedures to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

• Office of Technology - $249,010 to support the deployment of network monitoring and develop management tools for operational efficiency and security of government cyber infrastructure.  This newly created office provides direct IT services for Guam’s twenty-seven executive branch agencies and over 3,000 government employees.

• Guam Police Department - $28,414 to ensure safety and meet proper standards by upgrading and retrofitting K9 transport vehicles with special equipment appropriate for K9 units.

• Guam Waterworks Authority – $154,950 for operations and maintenance training for all water and wastewater services in areas such as leak detection, pump and motor operation, maintenance, and rebuilding.

• Guam Department of Education - $173,442 to support an update of the Ten-year Capital Facilities master plan to ensure to meet facility needs at Guam schools.

• Department of Administration - $248,000 to enhance fixed-asset software and hardware to track construction projects, address audit findings, improve efficiency in reporting, and provide training.

Funds are made available through the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs’ Technical Assistance and Maintenance Assistance Programs.  Applications are submitted from October through May 1^st each year.  Funds are awarded once OIA receives appropriations from the U.S. Congress until they are exhausted.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees Federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. OIA supports the Secretary's mission of Fulfilling Trust and Insular Responsibilities through balancing efforts and limited resources towards stronger economic and health capacities, and fiscal accountability in the U.S. insular areas.