Teri Helenese, owner of Titan Impact LLC By. FACEBOOK
The Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority Board on Wednesday agreed to extend the contract of Titan Impact LLC as the governor’s Washington Representative in Washington, DC for a one-year period commencing April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The contract also includes an increase from $150,000 to $180,000. The representative is Terri Helenese, owner of Titan Impact, LLC.
Governor Albert Bryan explained the value of Ms. Helenese thus far for the territory. He spoke of the work she has done in the past and other plans the company has in the pipeline for the Virgin Islands. "Not only gaining ground in our position in Washington, opening doors and speaking to people, but also locally as we have been able to raise money to produce world class events here including the soccer match that featured D.C. United," Mr. Bryan said. He said Ms. Helenese "is now helping us lead a nationwide push from governors to reopen our cruise ports.”
The governor stated that part of the effort to reopen cruise ports will be getting President Joseph Biden to force the C.D.C to change its rules regarding cruise ship travel in the nation.
He also said Titan Impact is leading a charge to encourage more Black banking in the territory and is a crucial lobbyist in connecting Virgin Islands leaders with representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives. The idea is to help ascertain that the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories are not forgotten, which has happened in the past, in the passing of Covid-19 relief packages, the governor said.
Later on in the meeting, Mr. Bryan stated that federal aid from the Covid-19 packages came to the Virgin Islands through hard work. “These things are not in there because we are lucky. We work hard to make sure we are not excluded. On a lot of things they try and leave the Virgin Islands out of it," he said.
The governor credited Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett with doing a lot of work in the House and with lobbyists, but went on to say, “We do a lot of work in the Senate.” One relationship with the Senate that he said the territory has been able to nurture is an alignment with Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia.
