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TOM EADER ST. CROIX — Virgin Islands residents will have an oppor- tunity this week to learn about the territory’s street address- ing initiative, which will be test- ed in Estate Mon Bijou on St. Croix, downtown Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas and Cruz Bay on St. John. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor, which is the custo- dian of the territory’s Geo- graphic Information System (GIS) data, has spearheaded the project to create a stan- dardized addressing system for all the roads in the Virgin Islands. “The lack of a standardized addressing system affects more than the ability of our residents and tourists to navigate our streets with ease,” Lt. Gov. Gre- gory Francis said in a prepared statement issued last week. “It is a public safety issue that we are committed to improve.” The University of the Virgin Islands Eastern Caribbean Cen- ter is assisting to launch the pilot phase of the initiative. Now that a study of the ter- ritory’s existing addressing sys- tem has been completed, the Office of the Lieutenant Gover- nor can create an addressing system that allows for the effi- cient use of global positioning system (GPS) technology. Francis said in a news release issued last week that he is hopeful the pilot projects will boost the community’s partic- ipation in the street addressing initiative. “Address assignment cannot take place on unnamed roads,” Francis stated. “Street address- ing is a community initiative and community participation is critical to our goal of achiev- ing addressing throughout our community.” Francis is calling on residents to work together within their communities to collect and sub- mit their street name recom- mendations to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Additionally, a series of com- munity meetings will be held this week to discuss the pilot project and what residents can expect to occur as the territory begins the first phases of tran- sitioning toward a standard- ized addressing system. Resi- dents of the pilot project communities, community lead- ers and the general public are invited to attend the scheduled meetings. The first meeting will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at St. Ursula’s Multipurpose Center on St. John. The second meeting will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Charlotte Amalie High School on St. Thomas. The last meeting will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thurs- day at John H. Woodson Junior High School on St. Croix. TUESDAy, JAnUAry 29, 2013 The Avis EDA gets grant for small business export initiative SUSAN ELLIS ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority was awarded a federal State Trade and Export Promotion grant of $332,498 that will be used to help qualifying, small businesses export their products. “This administration is grateful for the STEP grant award that the territory will receive for a second year. My administration and the VIEDA continue to recognize that our local small businesses can increase their sales and grow their business through export-related activities. Our unique products and services that reflect our cul- ture can continue to be introduced within the global marketplace through the STEP program and our local small businesses,” Gov. John de Jongh Jr. said in a news release. Last year a similar STEP grant was used to thoroughly evaluate locally-made products with input from agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, United Postal Service, shipping compa- nies, the University of the Virgin Islands and finance and market- ing experts, according to Nadine Marchena Kean, EDA’s STEP pro- ject coordinator. Twenty business owners learned, among other things, about packing, preserving and labeling their products. This year’s grant will be used for training, marketing and setting up a virtual trade desk for quali- fying businesses. Information from the federal government about export requirements will be avail- able on line. Later in the year, Kean said the EDA plans to set up a virtual mall with storefronts that sell “proven products” from the Virgin Islands, like beer, body creams, windows, doors and even catamarans. “Not everyone will get into the mall, but it will be the best and brightest,” Kean said. The businesses who participat- ed in last year’s program are eligi- ble to apply for this year’s pro- gram, Kean said, and to qualify, businesses must be at least a year old and profitable with an exportable product or service, have a valid VI business license and be in good standing with the Lt. Gov- ernor’s Division of Corporations and Trademarks and the VI Inter- nal Revenue Bureau. Applications for the STEP pro- gram are available at both district EDA offices, the Small Business Administration and the Small Busi- ness Development Center. Applications should be accom- panied by a copy of the most recent business license and a let- ter of good standing from the Lt. Governor’s office. The deadline for applications and supporting doc- uments is Feb. 6. Documents can be delivered to the EDA offices at 5055 Norre Gade, St. Thomas or 116 King Street, Frederiksted, faxed to 777-8399 or emailed to . For information, call Kean or Tamra Graham at 714-1700. Susan Ellis Jennifer Matarangas-King, senior vice president of Innovative Companies, presents a check to Ana Davi- la, chief executive officer of United Way of St. Croix Wednesday. ICC employees enjoyed a company-pro- vided lunch while they completed pledge cards to United Way. Innovative, employees donate more than $15K to United Way SUSAN ELLIS ST. CROIX — United Way of St. Croix received a donation and employee pledges from Innovative Companies Wednesday and launched a discount prescrip- tion program at the Innovative Service Center on St. Croix. The $10,000 donation from Innovative kicked off the fundraising campaign that ends March 31, but people can donate any time, Ana Davila, United Way chief executive officer said. His- torically, Innovative has been one of the charity’s biggest support- ers and employees pledged or donated more than $5,000 in addition to the company’s $10,000 contribution. “We want to make an impact on people’s lives and with Inno- vative giving this check, we can see the light down the tunnel,” Davila said. According to Jennifer Matarangas-King, Innovative senior vice president, employees can make a one time donation or use payroll deduction to con- tribute to United Way and staff donations have averaged between $5,000-$7,000. The deductions can stop and start at any time, so some of the staff members have been donating for years. “We’re doing a really good job of supporting the community,” King said. “It’s a nice way for peo- ple to know ‘I’m supporting an organization.’” While Innovative employees signed pledge cards and made donations, Davila handed out FamilyWize prescription discount cards. “Anyone who doesn’t have insurance can use the card for prescriptions and anyone with insurance can use the card for prescriptions that are not cov- ered by insurance,” Davila said. The cards are free and people can contact United Way of St. Croix or text “family” to 700700. There are no forms to complete and no waiting period or regis- tration and the card can be used immediately. Family members can use the same card and those who are not U.S. citizens can use the card in U.S. pharmacies. FamilyWize, in partnership with United Way, acts like a big consumer group buying service and the discounts are provided voluntarily by participating pharmacies that provide prices similar to those given to large insurance companies and employers. On St. Croix, Kmart is the participating pharmacy. So far, other pharmacies have not cho- sen to offer residents without insurance pricing similar to what they offer insurance com- panies. Participating pharma- cies benefit with increased traf- fic flow and customers who may buy other items while filling their prescriptions. If the pharmacy’s price is lower, the customer will pay the lower price but there will be no additional discount. According to FamilyWize, more than $450 million has been saved by 5.2 million card users. Since December 31, 2012, Virgin Islanders have saved over $12,000 in general medications and more than $46,000 in other medical services related to heart disease and diabetes, according to Davila. Public meetings scheduled to discuss street naming project