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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1998)
Formerly Smoke Signals OCTOBER 15, 1998 I. i: A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe Umpqua Molalla Rogue River Kalapuya Chasta Tote cleaning business will soon be operational By Tracy Dugan, Editor Chris Elliott, Operations Manager for Grand Ronde Industries (GRI), has put all his energy for the last few months into the Tribe's new business. It is a tote clean ing operation, located in Tangent, Oregon. The busi ness will clean all the totes for Hewlett-Packard, a com puter company headquartered in Corvallis. What exactly is a tote, one might ask. A tote is a plastic box Hewlett-Packard uses to carry component parts used to produce printers. After the tote is empty they are de livered to GRI, cleaned, then transported to Hewlett Packard's suppliers and so on. The Tribe, through Spirit Mountain Development Cor poration (SMDC), is leasing a warehouse which will house the offices and cleaning equipment necessary for this operation. GRI is a subsidiary of SMDC and will employ twelve people. The amount the Tribe stands to profit from this endeavor is ten percent of the operating costs between $60-70,000 per year. Compared to how much the Tribe is profiting from the Casino, these numbers may seem small. But Elliott says this is how busi nesses get off the ground.' "Keep in mind that the Tribe owns one hun dred percent of this business. Grand Ronde Industries fully expects to do other things. We are brand new." J ..i.SMWKW- "ly"" -v- s This is where David Blum comes in. Blum is the Busi ness Development Manager for SMDC. His job is to explore business opportunities for the Tribe and deter mine what types of opportunities are compatible with what Tribal Council and other tribal officials have stated they want to pursue. "Bruce Thomas initially had the idea to work with Hewlett-Packard on this tote cleaning operation," said Blum. "He nurtured a relationship with them. Chris and I were here for the closing of the deal. I think that some where there are other tribal members who might have great business ideas for the Tribe to explore and I want to hear about them." Grand Ronde Industries is a limited liability company that is interested in diversifying the Tribe's economic base Hundreds of plastic "totes" like the ones seen here, will be cleaned by GRI every week for Hewlett Packard. by pursuing different business opportunities. SMDC's Board of Directors and Tribal Council have identified three main business segments that are areas of interest at the present time. They are: manufacturing, light assembly and distribution. SMDCGRI will continuously review new business opportunities to determine how they fit with existing and potential customers. Interest lies in propri etorship, joint ventures and purchasing of existing busi nesses. If you have any questions about future or exist ing businesses with SMDCGRI, please contact David Blum or Chris Elliott at 1-800-760-7977, ext. 3926. fct! j j1 s 7 Get out and Vote! By Justin Martin Intergovernmental Affairs Now that tribal elections are over, we need to turn our atten tion to the upcoming November 3 General Election. In this upcom ing election there are several races, within all levels of govern ment, that affect the Tribe, the Reservation and also the areas in which many tribal members live. We must also understand that as individuals, or as a collective voice, we have the ability to make a dif ference when we cast our vote. This country was founded on that notion, and in these elections we are able to participate in govern mental structure and process. As tribal members, we have a unique status that allows us to par ticipate in four levels of govern ment: tribal, local, state, and fed eral. We are tribal members and U.S. citizens (thanks to the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924). I believe that the perseverance of our El ders afforded us the right to be re organized within this country, and because of that hard work, we to day need to carry on and partici pate in the political process. Many elections have been de cided by only a few votes. Every vote really does count and being part of the governmental structure stands for a whole lot more than marking a ballot. I urge you to consider the candidates and bal lot measures. Decide who and what is best for you personally, and what issues affect the Tribe, too. You can make a difference! Vote on Tuesday, Nov. 3 Tribal Community Center t Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde PRESORTED Community of Oregon FIRST-CLASS MAIL 9615 Grand Ronde Road U.S. POSTAGE PAID Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 SALEM, OR Address Service Requested PERMIT NO. 178 i i : Fox; Janes (Special Co)).) ! Knight Library? UofO Eugene OR 97403 Wyden, Smith work together on NA legislation Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith announced the passage of H.R. 4068, which makes long needed corrections in laws relating to the Na tive American tribes of Oregon. It provides authority for the Secretary of the Interior to grant up to 99 year leases to the Grand Ronde Tribe trust lands as well as designate 191 acres of tribally held community trust land as reserva tion. In addition, it allows the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Indians to place up to 2,000 acres in trust as reservation land. "Oregon's Indian communities deserve bipartisan cooperation from their elected officials," said Wyden. "It's been a pleasure working closely with Senator Smith to make these necessary corrections on behalf of the tribes."
