private sector development

How Tribal Leaders Are Creating Jobs

Producer
Indian Country Today
Year

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) has provided a vital spark to infrastructure and economic development projects across Indian country. Momentum has been building over the past several years but because of recent federal agency actions, and now tax-related Congressional bickering, it is in danger of petering out.

Out on the prairie, the skyline of Winnebago, Nebraska continues to grow. That is because the Winnebago Tribe is constructing a new multi-million-dollar educational center. This is a major achievement for a community in great need. Any other rural community might have issued bonds based on local property tax revenues to construct a critical community asset like this. But of course tribal governments cannot levy real property taxes. As such, NMTC-backed financing helped make this project a reality...

Resource Type
Citation

Morgan, Lance and Gabriel S. Galanda. "How Tribal Leaders Are Creating Jobs." Indian Country Today. October 15, 2013. Opinion. (https://ictnews.org/archive/how-tribal-leaders-are-creating-jobs, accessed July 18, 2023)

Hatching Economic Development: A New Business Incubator for Crow Creek

Producer
Indian Country Today
Year

“I want to develop my breakfast-burrito business into a restaurant,” said Lisa Lengkeek, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and 2013 winner of the South Dakota Indian Business Alliance contest for best business plan of the year. “I make the burritos at home and sell them at a stand. I have a big customer base, and I’m sure they’d patronize the restaurant.”

However, to open an eatery on the Crow Creek reservation, Lengkeek would have to start from the ground up, she said. She meant that literally: “There is no commercial space here–not one building I can rent. I would have to scrape the ground, pour cement, buy lumber, start hammering...”

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Woodard, Stephanie. "Hatching Economic Development: A New Business Incubator for Crow Creek." Indian Country Today Media Network. June 27, 2013. Article. (https://ictnews.org/archive/hatching-economic-development-a-new-business-incubator-for-crow-creek, accessed May 31, 2023)

The Private Sector: More Than a Job Creator

Author
Year

Jobs, jobs, jobs. They’re on everyone’s mind these days, and Creator knows our reservations are in dire need of jobs. While America has experienced a lingering unemployment rate around the 9th percentile for the past couple of years, our reservations have been enduring unemployment rates much higher than that — sometimes up to 90 percent — for generations. The simple fact is, the quantity of jobs we need to sustain our reservation populations just don’t exist. Since many reservations are located in isolated rural areas, commuting off-reservation isn’t a viable option either. So, how do we go about creating jobs for our Native people? ...

Resource Type
Citation

Fiddler, Tanya. "The Private Sector: More Than a Job Creator." Indian Country Today Media Network, March 15, 2012. (https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/opinions/the-private-sector-more-than-a-job-creator/, accessed March 15, 2012).

Cherokee Nation's Kawi Café offers small business training

Year

The Cherokee Nation’s Kawi Café is now serving up its signature Cherokee blend coffee in downtown Tahlequah, while giving budding entrepreneurs firsthand experience running their own business.

A ribbon-cutting was held Thursday at the café, which the Cherokee Nation opened last month in a 1,096-square-foot section of the renovated former Cort Mall.

“At Kawi Café, we can educate tribal citizens in a real, hands-on business environment, starting with a business plan and moving into inventory, marketing, scheduling, customer service, payroll and taxes,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. “Getting that essential training and experience will aid these potential entrepreneurs into taking the next step of launching their own startup businesses that will create jobs and commerce in our communities.”

While the café offers customers coffee, cappuccino, latte, soup and panini in a quaint coffee house setting, customers won’t necessarily notice what the café offers its employees.

Those who work at Kawi Café are Cherokee citizens wanting to start their own business or run a business one day. About nine trainees at any one time work four-month stints in the café learning how to run a business, while spending one day a week working on their own personal business plan. Many participants hope to apply for a Cherokee Nation small business loan after the program ends.

“The Kawi Café is a fantastic, real-world example for our trainees to come in and get plenty of hands-on experience before attempting a startup on their own,” said Cherokee Nation Commerce Executive Director Anna Knight. “Education is essential for a new business to be successful, and any successful Cherokee-owned venture is a success for the Cherokee Nation as well.”

Michael Fuller, 24, of Tahlequah, is starting a business to sell kits for A-frame hydroponic greenhouses so homeowners can grow their own organic vegetable gardens. Working at the Kawi Café, he’s made decisions on what food and beverages to include on the menu, pricing and ordering of supplies and materials.

“With everything I’ve learned through the classes, I’ve also been able to budget the money I’ve earned from working in the café to start my business,” he said. “Having started from the ground up, it’s really opened my eyes to what it takes to own a business and run it correctly from the beginning.”

The Cherokee Nation Commerce Department estimates the café’s yearly revenue to be $91,000 in the first year and as high as $114,000 by the third year. Some of the startup funding came from an Administration for Native Americans grant.

Cherokee Nation Commerce helps build the economic security of Cherokee citizens and communities. In the past 18 months, Cherokee Nation Commerce has provided $2.7 million in small-business loans to more than 40 Cherokee-owned businesses. Those loans have helped create or retain 223 jobs in the tribe’s 14-county jurisdiction. Commerce also holds several training classes and workshops throughout the year.

For more information on Cherokee Nation Commerce programs, call 918-453-5536.

For more information on the Kawi Café, open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., call 918-458-6114.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Cherokee Nation News. "Cherokee Nation's Kawi Café offers small business training." Cherokee Nation News. Talequah, Oklahoma. May 15, 2014. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBiOcGmH0No&feature=youtu.be, accessed September 26, 2016)

Building a More Sustainable Future on Cheyenne River

Producer
Four Bands Community Fund
Year

This brief video showcases five of Four Bands Community Fund's loan clients who have used their loan proceeds to advance green and social entrepreneur concepts on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

Citation

Four Bands Community Fund. "Building a More Sustainable Future on Cheyenne River." Four Bands Community Fund. Eagle Butte, South Dakota. 2013. Video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zhsco4JocE#t=51, accessed March 14, 2023)

Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: A Deeper Look

Year

Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: a Deeper Look is designed to raise the profile of Native entrepreneurship in South Dakota and offer lessons for policymakers, foundations, tribes, and non-profits in developing effective policies and strategies. The research identified the following key recommendations to promote Native entrepreneurship in South Dakota.  

Resource Type
Citation

Malkin, Jennifer and Johnnie Aseron. Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: A Deeper Look. Northwest Area Foundation. Washington, D.C. December 2006. Paper. (http://cfed.org/assets/documents/native_entrepenuership/phaseII_report.pdf, accessed March 24, 2014)

Creating a Climate of Support for Aboriginal Entrepreneurs

Author
Year

Three First Nations communities formed a partnership with SFU to investigate ways to create a supportive environment for Aboriginal entrepreneurs. This project followed the Western Diversification/Simon Fraser University study (2001) on the information and service needs of Aboriginal entrepreneurs. That study indicated there were many obstacles put in the way of Aboriginal entrepreneurs, and many of those obstacles to business start-up and success were found in their own communities.  

Resource Type
Citation

McBride, John. "Creating a Climate of Support for Aboriginal Entrepreneurs." Community Economic Development Centre. Simon Fraser University. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. February 2002. Paper. (https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/frbc2002/frbc2002mr41.pdf, accessed March 29, 2023)