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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WILL MEASURE
TRIBE'S SUCCESS
"All Indian people once had sophisticated ways of redistributing wealth and making
sure that everyone was taken care of when they needed it. Our work was a
reflection of who we were, the canoe builders, the fisherman, the basket makers,
the quiltmakers, the wood cutters, the wild food gatherers, the farmers fueled the
traditional economies"...
"Today we have many new skills, new ways of making a living, new technologies to
choose from that have to be scrutinized for their appropriateness. We have the
opportunity to take them as our own, putting our own stamp of who we are on
them. Making sure that they reflect the best values of our cultures."
-Victoria Bomberry, from Native Self-Sufficiency
The journey towards regaining tribal self-sufficiency
for the Grand Ronde people will involve some
tough decisions and a carefully planned vision of what
tomorrow should bring.
At the root of gaining self-sufficiency is economic
development, the path to creating jobs that provide
wages and improve the standard of living for tribal
members and the local communities.
The Tribal government has made what Representative
Les AuCoin considers a "unprecedented" commitment
by setting aside 30 of timber revenues for economic
development.
The commitment, however, is only one of many building
blocks needed for successful economic development. A
second important component includes a carefully
planned strategy...the foundation for improving the lives
of tribal members.
The plan must be flexible, adjusting to many needs, but
also must be consistent - creating a familiar and reliable
process for individuals and businesses.
To design and implement such a strategy, the Tribal
Council has embarked upon three years of training to
work through the many stages of economic develop
ment. To date, this has involved two full day sessions working
with consultant Jim Floyd. The first year of the training
involves developing a economic development strategy.
This process should be finalized by the end of the year.
The first two sessions have concentrated on the Tribal
Council formulating ideas on tasks to be completed,
organizing who will be responsible for the tasks, and
defining, the roles and responsibilities for each program
involved.
In the preliminary plans the Tribal Council has
developed, economic development will be concen
trated in three areas: developing individual tribal
membership needs in training, employment and business
development, studying and implementing investment op
portunities (to include a set aside for a "rainy day" fund)
and working to locate businesses in the area.
To work in these three areas, several other entities
would need to be created. These include a Tribal
Development Corporation that would operate a new
business and small business development fund, an
investment board (this could be comprised of members
or be an investment company), an Economic Develop
ment department which would work with individuals to
develop business plans and expertise, a Planning De
partment which would be responsible for setting up land
use policies and regulations, and a Job Placement
Center to help tribal members gain training and skills
they need for employment and business development.
With the establishment of these entities and defining the
roles of each, Floyd believes the Tribe is ahead of the
game than most other tribes.
"Tribal Councils are unwilling to give up control of
Economic Development," says Floyd.
The downfall of many tribal governments is when they
try to operate the day to day governmental operations
and in addition, the day to day economic development
activities, said Floyd.
Besides, finalizing a strategy, the economic
development training for the remainder of this
year, will also look at evaluating business propositions,
such as the "bingo for nothing", and many other
proposals for economic development the Tribe has
received. It will also look at ways to tie into, and work
with other governmental entities that work with eco
nomic development, and look at the private business
perspective of economic development.
With an economic strategy in place, the Tribe projects to
create about 25 new jobs annually for the next 20 years
through economic development projects.
With Tribal Programs, an additional 8.6 jobs are
expected to be created annually for the next five years.
By 1993, the Tribe expects to employ 59 full time staff.
The annual payroll for a staff this size will be about $1.1
million dollars annually. The residual impact of just
these additional positions within the Tribe could be the
creation of 20 to 30 other jobs elsewhere in the West
Valley area, according to projections.
An example of confronting such a decision came for the
Council during one of the trainng sessions when they
had to decide where to place the responsibility of
allocating the new business and small business develop
ment funds.
You can make a political decision by placing the
responsibilities with the Tribal Council or you make a
economic development decision by having the Tribal
Development Corporation handle the responsibility,
Floyd said.
You need to be willing to take the "leap of faith" and
delegate responsibilities, said General Manager Jim
Willis, about the decision making process involved with
economic development.
The Council members present decided to place the
responsibility with the Tribal Development Corporation.
The major role of the Tribal Council should be to
monitor and evaluate the performance and effectiveness
of the entities and programs, said Floyd.
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Jim Floyd, tribal consultant, discusses economic
development.