Top of business activities in 2022 are Retail and Food establishments

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Retail, and Food establishments are the top two types of business activities in American Samoa in 2022, while unsurprisingly, StarKist Samoa remains the largest private employer, followed by a locally based construction company, according to Commerce Department (ASDOC) data and information summarized in the Governor’s State of the Territory Comprehensive Report, distributed to lawmakers on Monday, at the opening of the 38th Legislature.

Samoa News believes that this is the first time that the government has provided such data, outlining the “Top Business Activities” as well as the “Top 10 Businesses by Employment” for a previous calendar year, in the Governor’s address.

ASDOC reports in the Comprehensive Report that the total for the “Top 10 Business Activities” is 2,261, which makes up 64% of all business activities for calendar year (CY) 2022 as of Sept. 30, 2022.

The top two business activities are Retail and Food Establishments — each category with 469 businesses; followed by Alcoholic/Beer licenses with 265 businesses; Commercial/ House Rental with 216 businesses; and Commercial Transportation with 213 businesses.

Other businesses activities in the Top 10 are: Import/Export; Landscaping/Janitorial; Construction/Engineering; Sewing shops; and Wholesale.

ASDOC also reported the “Top 10 Businesses by Employment” in 2022 in total employed a total workforce of 3,623, of which StarKist Samoa Co. tops the list with 2,611 employees.

It’s followed by Paramount Builders employing 219 workers; AST Telecom LLC, d/b/a Bluesky Communications with 110 workers; Nana’s Incorporation with 105 employees; Neil’s ACE Home Center with 101 workers; McDonald’s American Samoa with 90 workers; Fletcher Construction with 63 workers; Tradewinds Hotel with 59 workers; the Satala-based can manufacturing plant, Talofa Systems AS Inc. with 54 workers; and GHC Reid & Company with 50 workers.

BUSINESS LICENSES

ASDOC reports that approximately 3,656 business licenses were registered at the Revenue Branch of the ASG Treasury Department in Calendar Year (CY) 2022 a drop from 4,616 business licenses, recorded in the previous calendar year.

(A calendar year or CY follows the January 1st - December 31st format for a year, while a fiscal year (FY) for the Territory is Oct. 1st to Sept. 30th.

 Compared to CY 2021, there is a 20.8% decrease in returning businesses within fiscal year 2021 since the business license renewal period opened in October 2021.

However, ASG generated an estimated total revenue of $499,437.50 which indicates an increase of $19,318.50 or 4.02% increase of revenue collections in comparison to CY 2021's total revenue of $480,119.00, according to DOC.

“There has been a significant increase in our Territorial business growth at the end of CY 2022 due to federal program grants including the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), the Business Recovery Capital Program (BRCP) Grant and Revolving Line of Credit (RLOC) Program, and other federal grant awards,” the report says.

For the BRCP Grant program, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and it’s administered ASDOC in an effort to rebuild the local economy since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program was launched in March 2022 in response to assisting impacted businesses. This is a $25,000 grant program for business applicants to request assistance based on how they were impacted by the pandemic. The total allocated budget is $4 million.

As of September 2022, ASDOC awarded 177 businesses totaling $3,547,284 or 89% of the original allocation. Due to exceedingly popular demand, ASDOC ceased accepting applications on May 6, 2022 with more than 450 applications submitted.

To accommodate as many qualified applicants as possible, ASDOC intends to reallocate remaining funds from the closed CAP and RLOC programs. As a requirement under the ASG’s ARPA Oversight Office, ASDOC has made all approved recipients publicly available on its website (https://www.doc.as.gov).

For the RLOC program, also funded by ARPA, it was allocated a budget of  $5 million. The program applications ceased on July 29, 2022. There are a total of 29 approved applications totaling $4.65 million. The remaining $350,000 may be reallocated to the BRCP-Grant program.

Another program administered by ASDOC, is the Cash Assistance Program (CAP) providing relief to non- essential businesses impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions.

The CAP for Impacted Businesses assists with payment for operational and overhead expenses. ASDOC data included in the Comprehensive Report shows that a total of 352 applications were received, with 240 approved; 88 denied; 17 under review and 7 applications were incomplete.

Also administered by ASDOC is the federal grant Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which provides financial assistance to households impacted by COVID.

DOC reports that the program has assisted 470 households over the past year with payouts for rental and utility assistance totaling over $2.6 million. The ERAP has 129 landlords enrolled. Payments are issued directly to the landlord and utility companies. Exceptions can be made if the landlord does not wish to participate in the program and payouts will be issued directly to the tenant with the stipulation that all payments receipts are provided as proof of rental payment.

The program remains open up to calendar year 2025 and ASDOC hosts regular zoom workshops to go over program requirements and issue certification numbers that are required to complete the online application.

BACKGROUND

Samoa News points out that StarKist Samoa may be at the head of Top 10 by Employment list in American Samoa, however, it is not at the top of the list in terms of paying tax revenues.

As previously reported, according to the 2017- 2021 American Samoa Economic Development Authority General Revenue (and Refunding) Bonds Report, the canneries in 2020 & 2021 became 3rd & 5th, respectively, in the category of paying corporate income.

It was beat out by Auto Sales and Insurance in 2020, and in 2021 by Petroleum, Auto Sales, Insurance, and Restaurant/ Food.