4
Smoke Signals
Business with Hewlett-Packard
Investment did nimdlystiry proves itself
Stacey Shadle prepares to ship clean totes back to Hewlett-Packard. Photo by Tracy Dugan
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By Tracy Dugan
Of all the places in Oregon one
might open a business, the little
town of Tangent near Albany seems
one of the most unlikely. Smack dab
in the middle of Linn County, Grand
Ronde Industries sits in a warehouse
surrounded by acres of farmland,
tractor and crop supply stores, and
barns scattered over the rolling
countryside.
Traveling on Interstate 5, most
drivers would barely notice the little
town nestled in the heart of the Wil
lamette Valley. The idea begs the
question: Why on earth does the
Tribe own a business in Tangent, Or
egon? Just a stone's throw away from the
larger industrial city of Albany, Tan
gent is also located near Corvallis.
And Corvallis is the locale of one of
Oregon's biggest companies:
Hewlett-Packard. So when Hewlett
Packard and the Grand Ronde Tribe
agreed to go into business together,
the decision to keep that business
near HP was simple.
Grand Ronde Industries was es
tablished in 1997 as the industrial
component of Spirit Mountain De
velopment Corporation, which oper
ates the Casino and other develop
ment enterprises. So far, the tote
washing operation in Tangent is the
only business under Grand Ronde
Industries.
GRI held an open house on Feb
ruary 12 and visitors were given
tours of the warehouse.
Stacey Shadle, who works there,
explained the tote washing process.
"Each tote holds computer equip
ment manufactured at Hewlett-
Packard," she said. "They have to
each be carefully cleaned, because
dirt and dust could contaminate sen
sitive computer components. HP
ships the dirty totes to us, and we
vacuum and clean each one, wrap
them in plastic, and prepare them
to be shipped back."
GRI uses ionized air to vacuum
and clean the totes, all done on an
assembly line before going through
a sterilizing machine.
GRI employs two tribal members
out of 14 total. One, Chris Provost,
who lives in Albany with his family,
says the location is great.
"Living in Albany works out well
for my wife and I," he said. "And I
really enjoy my job here. I am al
ways doing something different."
Chris Elliott, Operations Manager
for GRI, could not be more pleased
with the quality of work and output.
"We have been open since Septem
ber"and we have yet to miss an or
der or ship a wrong order," he said.
Elliott said the open house was
held to give the clients a chance to
see how the operation works.
'We produce a high-quality product
in a very efficient way," he said. "We
are doing what we said we would do."
NaroiMi, Casino topics at Geoneirall Council
The families of these kids appreciate
support from all of you. We do this for
the greater Indian community. 99
Candi Henry
Nan itch Sa ha I lie Manager
By Tracy Dugan
The March meeting involved re
ports from Spirit Mountain Casino
staff and Nanitch Sahallie.
Bruce Thomas, SMC President
said that all of the Tribe's economic
enterprises are doing well.
Earlier issues of Smoke Signals
have outlined several of the devel
opment projects, including the retail
centers the Tribe owns, and the Rus
sellville Housing Development in
Portland.
According to Thomas, "the Rus
sellville apartments are filling up as
fast as we can build them," and
there is a waiting list for folks wish
ing to rent an apartment there.
Thomas also said that the Tribe's
hotel, Spirit Mountain Lodge, is still
filling up on weekends and concert
nights, with a good number of guests
in the middle of the week as well.
The tribally-owned youth treat
ment facility, Nanitch Sahallie, was
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the department scheduled to give its
program report to the membership.
Candi Henry, who is the manager
at Nanitch, introduced some of the
staff there who then went over some
of the program developments. Nan
itch Sahallie is a live-in facility
owned by the Tribe, and located in
Keizer, Oregon. It provides chemi
cal dependency treatment to Native
American youth from many differ
ent tribes. It is one of the only such
facilities in the country.
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"Last year we served over 100
youth, from 11 different states," said
Henry, who said that Nanitch em
phasizes traditional and Indian val
ues in the counseling and treatment
of these kids.
Robert Schmid, who is a counselor
at Nanitch, said that people from all
over the United States are interested
in Nanitch and the help it offers to
Indian youth experiencing problems
with drugs and alcohol.
Finally, Henry thanked those
Grand Ronde tribal members who
donate their personal time to spend
with the youth at Nanitch. "The
families of these kids appreciate sup
port from all of you. We do this for
the greater Indian community."
The last item on the meeting
agenda was an overview of the up
coming BIA election, which would
change the Tribal Constitution and
the requirements for enrollment into
the Grand Ronde Tribe. Rob
Greene, Tribal Attorney, explained
what these changes would mean for
people trying to get enrolled if the
proposed changes are passed by the
membership in the BIA election.
(Please see Chair's letter, page 1.)
Door Prize drawing winners were:
Tim Holmes, $50; Bobby Mercier,
$50; Cliff Adams, $50; and Nancy
Holmes, $100. There are only two
more General Council meetings left
before summer hiatus. The next
meeting is Sunday, April 11.