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
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