The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) says “all funds due” to an Abaco-based poultry producer for a solar energy project have been paid over while denying that any sums remain outstanding.

The agency, known as Access Accelerator, in a statement responding to a Tribune Business article said Lance Pinder, Abaco Big Bird’s principal, was advised that he would only receive $25,493 in funding from the Climate Smart Grant initiative because he had previously obtained $14,507 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs to cover fuel surcharges.

Combined, those two sums would have taken Mr Pinder to the $40,000 maximum limit for this grant. However, the Abaco Big Bird chief said he only received the ministry’s $14,507 contribution yesterday - one day after the original Tribune Business article ran.

“They actually disbursed the money today. But it didn’t come directly from the SBDC,” Mr Pinder added. He had previously revealed he was unable to proceed with the solar installation without receiving the full funding. The SBDC, though, in its statement said that “all funds due to Lance Pinder of Abaco Big Bird were remitted as promised based on the terms and conditions of his approval for the Climate Smart Grant in November of 2022”.

“Mr Pinder was approved for funding under the Climate Smart Grant in the amount of $25,493.20, and was notified of his approval via our standard notification process; an electronic distribution of the grant approval letter. The applicant also signed and dated the approval letter on November 16, 2022, confirming agreement with the terms of the grant.

“The Climate Smart Grant, in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs, had a maximum funding approval of up to $40,000,” the SBDC added. “It is notable to mention that Mr Pinder was also advised that, as he previously received $14,507 in funding from the Ministry for fuel surcharges, in addition to the grant funding from the SBDC of $25,493, the total funding he received was $40,000, which met the maximum disbursement amount for the grant.”

Mr Pinder’s comments indicate that it was the ministry, and not the SBDC, that may have been late in paying him what was due. Samantha Rolle, the SBDC’s executive director, said she “wishes to reassure the public that all current and future grant awardees can expect to receive their disbursements as outlined in the contents of their disbursement approval letter”. She added that the Climate Smart Grant has provided 11 agricultural businesses with a total $373,450.23.

Mr Pinder had earlier this week told Tribune Business: “I’m just waiting. I’m not up and running at this point. The power bills are going up all the time along with the fuel surcharges and things like that, and some of that funding was to help me offset that. That grant funding was supposed to get me back to where it was before these increases started, so I was really hoping to have the project completed already.”

The funding goes directly to the contractor installing the solar panels, not to Abaco Big Bird. Brenton Nixon, owner/operator of Smart Power Solutions, the contractor installing the solar panels, said: “We haven’t started the project as yet, but we have nearly all of the equipment and we are just waiting for the inverter.”

The inverter’s arrival was delayed because the manufacturer was filling back orders from the COVID-19 lockdowns and Smart Power Solutions was down the list of customers. “We need a specific type of inverter to go with the 480 volt system that we have, but everything like the ground mounts and the wiring connections, I have. Everything else I have, except the inverter,” Mr Nixon said.

“The inverter should be in by mid-May, but I am not sure when the Ministry of Agriculture is going to send me the balance of the funds. I just have no idea because when I spoke to Lance (Pinder), he said he doesn’t even know when they will send the rest of the money.

“The first payment from the SBDC that came in was about $26,000. We really need the balance to start the work. We have the ground mounts now. They were the most costly. I just really wanted to get them out of the way so I know that I have them.”