Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Applying and getting a business license in an expeditious manner — via online platform — is among the Lemanu Administration’s broadband development projects summarized in the American Samoa Economic Development Authority’s (ASEDA) new rating presentation report. The report focuses on the preliminary total of more than $41 million for the government’s proposed 2021 Bond Series, in which revenues earned are earmarked for the new Fono building and Judiciary Branch building and a study for the relocation of the adult jail and juvenile detention center.

Since Samoa News reported last Friday on the ASEDA report, and shared with readers the ASG link to the entire rating presentation, some business representatives who followed the link and read through the entire document are  raising questions about the new process for obtaining a business license by applying online. They are wondering if this will actually happened, as it was proposed in the past by the previous Lolo Administration.

“However, it’s a great and excellent project and a way to boost businesses — allowing owners to apply online and it also saves time,” said one business rep over the weekend, who asked not be identified at this time, but will try this process to “see if it actually works”.

“Digitizing the Business License Application Process” — one of the projects listed under the government’s Broadband Development Initiatives — is described as transitioning the manual process of obtaining a business license to an on-line format.

“When completed, applicant will be able to secure a license to operate a business completely online,” according to the description. “This project doubles as a pilot or example to encourage the fast-track transition of other government services to an on-line process.”

It says that $50,000 is to be invested over 3-years for this project funded with CARES Act money awarded under the Community Service Block Grant, administered locally by the ASG Commerce Department.

This project was expected “to go live by June 1, 2021” but as of yesterday morning the ASG-DOC website section for “business” information still shows that persons interested in an application can download the application and other needed information. (https://doc.as/economic-development/business/)

The second broadband development project is the “American Samoa Territorial Broadband Strategy, which was launched virtually, via Zoom, in June last year.

An ASG-DOC news release at the time said over 80 people joined the Zoom conference launch while several more watched via a simultaneous Facebook live stream. This event was a first of its kind for American Samoa.

According to the project description in the ASEDA rate presentation report, this initiative is a planning effort to develop a focused roadmap that will guide the Territory’s efforts moving forward so as to leverage ASG’s $140 million investment into modernizing the Territory’s telecommunications infrastructure.

(Samoa News notes that the investment to modernize the local telecommunications infrastructure, is referring to the expansion of the American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority broadband through Hawaiki cable.)

The initiative, it says, is funded by a $100,000 grant from the US Economic Development Administration and is expected to be completed by May 1, 2021. There’s no new update as to whether the project is officially completed.

The third and final project is the BPO Business Incubator — which is American Samoa’s first fully operational 25- seat call center,” according to the project description noting that funding for the start-up was provided via the CSBG grant program.

Additional funding in the amount of $188,800 has been secured from US Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs. And this project is in conjunction with the Call Center Academy — listed as one of the ASG Workforce Development Initiatives. (See yesterday’s Samoa News for details.)