2 News Smoke Signals
Meet the people behind Spirit Mountain Development
Spirit Mountain Casino, with nearly 200,000
square feet and acres rising out of what was a fal
low field only three years ago, offers the most vis
ible evidence of Spirit Mountains Development's
achievements. At the direction of the Tribal Coun
cil, Spirit Mountain Development built the Casino
as the first step in the Tribe's efforts to diversify
economically and begin to achieve self-sufficiency.
As Oregon's most popular attraction with 3 mil
lion visitors annually, Spirit Mountain has become
one of the most successful start-up businesses in
Oregon history. ,
Now Spirit Mountain Development Corporation
(SMDC) is continuing to diversify into other types
of economic development as planned. SMDC, in
partnership with an experienced real estate devel
oper, is building a retail and commercial center in
Salem. Other projects will follow.
The Tribal Council appointed a highly qualified
board of directors to guide the affairs of Spirit
Mountain Development. The board of directors,
in turn, has built a management team of very ca
pable people.
DIRECTORS:
Tribal member Mike Larsen has served as Chair
man of the Board since late 1995. Mike works for
the Tribe.
Ed Larsen has served on Tribal Council for five
years and is the Tribal Vice Chair. He is a mem
ber of the Service Integration Team, the Yamhill
Community Action Plan Board, the Yamhill County
Head Start Board, and Grand Ronde Water Asso
. ciation. Ed is the founder of the highly successful
Spirit Mountain Stampede.
Tribal Council Secretary Ed Pearsall has served
on the board since 1996. hi addition to working
on several subcommittees of the Tribal Council,
Ed represents the Tribe with a number of outside
organizations, including the Oregon Museum of
Science and Industry (OMSI).
Jim Sizemore is a shareholder and officer of Stra
tegic Wealth Management, the Tribe's Financial
and Investment Management Consulting firm. In
1997, he was commissioned by the Northwest Port
land Area Indian Health Board to update the publi
cation Determining the True Cost of Contracting
Federal Programs for Indian Tribes. Jim remains
active at the tribal, regional and national level on
these issues.
Since 1993, tribal member Clyde Stryker is the
PresidentCEO of Spirit Communications, Inc.
Prior to 1993, he served as co-owner and service
manager of Data Devices which included develop
ment and staffing of service departments in Or
egon, Washington, and Idaho. Clyde was educated
at Portland Community College.
For nearly 25 years, Len Bergstein has been in
volved in Oregon public policy issues and political
affairs. He is also the political analyst for KPTV
(Oregon's-12) and several radio stations through
out Oregon. In 1981, Len founded Northwest Strat
egies, Inc. and has advised companies on a num
ber of the region's most sensitive issues including
environmental regulations, health care, financial
services, Indian gaming, business development,
land use and transportation.
Clyde Hamstreet is the founder and president
of Hamstreet and Company. He has over twenty
five years of business experience with the last
twelve in business consulting, crisis management
and turnaround situations. Clyde has a B.S. in Busi
ness Administration from Oregon State University.
MANAGEMENT:
The Corporation's President is Bruce Thomas,
a tribal member and former partner with Stoel,
Rives, Boley, Jones, and Grey (Oregon's largest
law firm). As an attorney, Bruce specialized in
commercial law, real estate and corporate reorga
nizations. In addition to his law degree, Bruce has
a Master's degree in Business Administration. .
David Harjo is the Corporation's Vice President
of Development and was Vice President of Con
sulting with Little Six, Inc. where he coordinated
gaming and consulting projects. David obtained
an Engineering Science degree from the Univer
sity of Oklahoma.
E. David Blum serves as the Business Develop
ment Manager. He has over seven years of expe
' rience working for the Oregon Division of State
Lands as a Project Manager where he was respon
sible for all strategic planning functions for com
mercial and industrial property development. Ed
has a Master of Urban Planning degree from the
University of Washington and a Bachelor of Sci
ence in Economics from Wharton School.
Chuck Galford is the Corporation's Marketing
Director. Chuck was a member of the NIKE mar
keting team that planned and implemented the suc
cessful Air Jordan campaign. He has operated his
own marketing consulting firm with clients such
as NIKE, Adidas, the City of Portland, and the U.S.
Olympic Committee. Chuck has a Bachelor's de
gree from the University of Michigan and a Law
degree from Yale University.
Terry Contreras is the Corporation's Chief Fi
nancial Officer. Previously, Terry was the Chief
Financial Officer for a major Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada and the District Manager for 40 Sears cata
log stores. A native Oregonian, Terry has a
Bachelor's degree in Finance from Oregon State
University. .
Shelley Hanson serves as the Corporation's De
velopment Specialist and has over ten years of busi
ness planning and consulting experience. Shelley
has a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Oregon
State University and a Master's of Management
degree from Willamette University.
Tribe is awarded Welfare-To-Work grant
Water meeting
continued from front page
own compromise settlement to the Association
Board. A decision on the Tribe's proposal is ex
pected at the April Association Board meeting.
The Tribe's proposal would allow the Associa
tion to charge its normal hook-up fee for each home
in the park but the Association would credit the
charge for the actual construction and installation
costs of the water delivery system paid entirely by
the Tribe. In addition, each home would receive a
membership to the Association and each member
would be allowed a vote.
Tribal officials remain hopeful that this matter
can be settled fairly, honorably, and to the satis
faction of both parties.
SEATTLE The Grand Ronde Tribe has been
awarded a $75,785 Welfare-To-Work grant from
the U.S. Labor Department. The grant is one of
the first of $15 million in Welfare-To-Work grants
to help Native American tribal governments trans
form the lives of long-term welfare recipients.
The Tribe plans to provide participants with
unsubsidized employment opportunities. If subsi
dies are needed, they will be used in ways to assure
the participant's employment goals are met. Activi
ties include employment opportunities, job training,
job retention, and post-employment services.
. The Indian and Native American Welfare-To-Work
grants are part of a $3 billion national effort
Notice of Public Hearing
Tribal members will be receiving a special mail
ing detailing a 1998 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET
PROPOSAL. The information is for membership
review and comment. Tribal members wishing to
comment on the budget are encouraged to do so
through oral or written testimony. Written testi
mony may be submitted to the Tribal Council any
time between March 16, 1998 and 5:00 p.m. on
May 15, 1998. All written testimony must be signed
and either mailed or hand-delivered to the Confed
erated Tribes of Grand Ronde, 9615 Grand Ronde
to combat dependency among welfare recipients
who face the most difficult obstacles to employ
ment. One percent of the $3 billion is set aside for
Indian and Native American tribal governments.
The Grand Ronde Tribe is one of 26 tribal gov
ernments who will be receiving funding, because
their plans have been approved by the U.S. Labor
Department. The grants may be used to fund sub
sidized and unsubsidized employment, work ex
perience, on-the-job training and post employment
retention services, such as child care and trans
portation assistance. For further information about
this grant, please contact Bob McElderry at the
tribal offices at (503) 879-2301.
on Supplemental Budget
Rd, Grand Ronde, OR 97347, Attn: Lauri Smith.
Tribal members will be given a chance to give
oral testimony during the General Council meet
ing on Sunday, April 5, 1998. All testimony is
limited to enrolled members of the Tribe who will
be 18 years of age or older by April 1 , 1998. Please
take time to review the 1998 Supplemental Budget
proposal mailing and feel free to comment. Any
questions regarding this information, contact Pat
Mercier, Financial Officer or Greg Archuleta, Ad
ministrative Officer at 1-800-422-0232.