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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2011)
Spiiy^y Tymoo, W arm Springs, Oregon Page 5 March 23, 2011 TeleCo Corner Tribes invest in future economic vitality B y Jo d y C alica Secretary-Treasurer The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Tribal Council along with enterprise managers, governm ent leaders, and the Warm Springs Community Ac tion Team are mobilizing efforts to strengthen tribal and private sector business. Efforts are supporting four Economic Stewardship goals: Increase tribal revenue, increase jobs, foster private sector busi ness development, and improve reservation infrastructure. Tribal Council is investing $10 million into three areas sup porting economic growth. The investments share a core principle of using the resources to leverage as many additional resources as possible. The investment includes: Business Investment Revolv ing Fund (BIRF) The BIRF provides $6 mil lion invested in developing or advancing tribal enterprises to produce increased tribal rev enue and jobs. The intent is to grow this re volving fund over time to over a minimum of $20 million to support on-going enterprise de velopment. The BIRF team is responsible for generating and implement ing business strategies and meets monthly to discuss and develop investment proposals. The BIRF team includes all tribal enterprise managers, Ken Smith and Wayne Pearson, two at-large business leaders, and Tribal Council leaders Chair Buck Smith, J.P. Patt, and Scott Moses. To date, investment is being m ade in the T eleco project which provides bandwidth infra structure for the reservation and will result in a minimum of 19 new jobs. Private Business Revolving Loan Fund (PBRL) The PBRL includes the ini tial investment of $2 million to support private sector business growth and development. The intent of this fund is to grow the private business sec tor among tribal members and provide a source of capital that will be available now and in the future. Decisions on the method for accessing the resources are cur rently under discussion and should be completed in the near future. Capacity Building Fund The ability for government and private sector to successfully grow business, is supported by a $2 million investment with a focus on enhanced job creation and skill development through education and training for en terprise and private sector jobs. Included in Capacity Build ing is a $500,000 investment in a Community Development Fi nancial Institution (CDIF) to create a revolving loan fund for private businesses that will have the opportunity to leverage an addition $2 million grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Treasurey and private banks. In addition there will be an increased capacity for Ventures, the enterprise development cor poration for tribal enterprise, to develop business opportunities and for planning to enhance the physical infrastructure that is the foundation for both tribal en terprises and private businesses to operate. The C om m unity A ction Team (CAT) will provide lead ership in the development of the CDFI fund and focus on assist ing the private business sector through a private small business center. Lastly an economic coordina tor will provide overall facilita tion and coordination out of the Secretary-Treasurer’s office. Thank you fo r writing to the Spilyay Tymoo. The next deadline to sub mit items fo r publication is Friday, A pril 1. Safe Routes to School go to WWW.WSNEWS.ORG for the latest local news V_____________________________ J Native Nations Day at the FCC necessary regulatory approvals. This is not only to be allowed to go into business, but without all the regulatory approvals, it is im possible to get the various agree ments' approved to allow your company to “talk” or “intercon nect” to the other companies so your calls will reach the outside world. Last year, the Warm Springs Telecommunications Company joined the National Tribal Tele communications Association, (NTTA), the organization rep resenting the nine tribal telecom com panies (including Warm Springs as the ninth tribal telco in the country!), as well as Sand wich Islands Telecom, of the N ative Hawaiian homelands, and also some native Alaskan villages companies. On the first day of my trip, I attended an NTTA quarterly meeting and then with the rest of the NTTA crowd, went to Capitol Hill to lobby various congressional staff and agencies to impress on them the impor tance of helping tribes to get into the telecom industry. The big event of my trip was the Native Nations Day at the FCC. by M arsha Spellman Marketing & Kegulatory Director, WSTC Earlier this month, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of meetings that were held to promote and lobby for tribal telecommunications. Like Warm Springs, most tribal communities lack basic telecommunications services. Som e reservatio n s have no phone service at all. Tribal leaders have begun to recognize that the lack of these services is a huge problem that they must deal with. No longer should tribes rely on the outside world to bring telecommunica tions to their reservations. But this is easier said than done. Telecommunications is a very complicated business. It is technically complex and requires a lot of engineering and plan ning. It is also very expensive to build. Developing a phone or broadband network takes big bucks that most tribes don’t have. And finally, it is a regulated industry. Unlike putting up a new store, one can’t just go into the telecom industry without the ^ T E L E C O C O R N E R on 8 AFFORDABLE TIRES - Crossing guard training in Warm Springs. An application facilitated by the Warm Springs Grant Devel opment Office was submitted and approved for a Safe Routes to School Program in Warm Springs. As a part o f the grant, a Crossing Guard program is be ing developed to assist students in safely crossing the road in areas that have been identified by the Safety Team. Trainings provided by Brian Potwin, Safe Routes to School Instructor, were held on the last two Mondays for anyone inter ested in volunteering to be a crossing guard. The training session covered the proper use o f equipment and positioning and procedures. Each volunteer will need only to com m it up to one hour per week and the vests and equip ment are provided. The process o f gatherin g community members and rep N ew - n - U se d Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay 3 0 4 M adison S t ., S uite 102 M adras , O R . 97741 resen tativ es from d ifferen t tribal departments to apply for the grant has also identified other issues that need to be addressed beyond what will be covered in the SRTS grant. The group will be taking a look at the need for school zone and cross walk signage, as well as education about tribal Traf fic Codes. Last month the Safety Team took a quiz to show what they know about tribal Traffic Codes. The scores were 50/50, prompt ing a special presentation to the group by the Warm Springs Po lice Department. The group will be using what they learned to carry out an edu cation campaign in the months to come and you can expect to see crossing guards during the after-school hours once school resumes after spring break. If you would like more in formation about this program or are interested in volunteer in g, p lease co n tact A sh ley Aguilar at 553-2243. — by Yvonne Iverson I s a a c 541 693-3742 - trading H e c t o r 541 693-3386 - A T TH E Spring break activities Warm Springs Recreation presents spring break activi- ties through this week. Basketball camp is this Wednesday, March 23 at the C om m unity C enter. The camp age groups are as fol- lows: K-3rd: 9-11 a.m., funda- mentals. 4-6th grades: 1:30-3:30 p.m., advanced plays. A lso on Wednesday, in Carols Room: 9-10:30 a.m .: B oard games. 10:30-11:45 a.m.: Build a bird house. 1-2:30 p.m.: Paint your bird house. 2:30-4:30 p.m.: Get ere- ative, your only limited by your imagination. T hursday, M arch 24, is Mad Scientist day, in the so- cial hall from 10-11:30 a.m. Hip Hop Dance in the gym from 2-4 p.m. Friday, M arch 25, Game Room Game Freak, from 9- 11:45 a.m ., and 1:30-3:30 p.m. C a ro l’s Room board games from 9-11:45 a.m. Movie and popcorn: 2:30- 4:30 p.m. For more information, call the Community Center at 541-553-3243. G R A N D RO N D E, O R EG O N Check out the Spilyay Tymoo ’s Web site: W \ ______________________ ______________________ S Íie W S . O tg A G A T H E R IN G OF N A T IV E A M E R I C A N B U S IN E S S E S £* T R I B A L E N T E R P R IS E S
