Smoke Signals
6 FEBRUARY 1, 2001
Tribe's Small Business Department
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By Justin Phillips
It is one thing everybody wishes for. .
There is to be no one better than you. To be the
boss of all bosses. The best of the best.
If you are thinking of starting your own small
business, the Tribe's Small Business department
has all the answers to your questions. Their sta
tistics crush the national average. Being number
one is just another day for the Small Business de
partment. "We started the year in a very big hole," said
Tom Hampson, Executive Director of the Oregon
Native American Business Entrepreneur Network
(ONABEN). "But we did what any troubled busi
ness would do. We looked for help from our ven
dors and customers, for us this means our mem
ber Tribes. They delivered." Hampson was hired
a year ago to address the organization's funding
problems.
Founded in 1991 in Grand Ronde by Mitch
Conley, the corporation grew slowly until the last
few years when it rapidly expanded its successful
business development center model to Tribes in
Washington and Northern California.
"ONABEN was funded mostly by federal money,
and so it was vulnerable to budget cuts. When
they came, it hit hard," said Elaine Moore, the
Grand Ronde Tribe's Director of the Small Busi
ness Center who also serves as ONABEN's Trea
surer. "Key staff members left, the organization
was cut to a minimum crew and it looked bad."
The ONABEN Board of Directors stepped in to
take control. As volunteers, the board members
performed staff functions and loaned Tribal staff
until a modest base funding could be reestablished
through the Small Business Administration and
the State of Oregon. '
"The Tribes stayed with us," said Hampson.
"They valued the program and they stepped up
to the plate and funded the operating costs of the
centers. The best example I can give you of why
we are still around is the Grand Ronde Tribe.
"Grand Ronde has always been the highest pro
ducer in terms of numbers of people helped, busi
ness plans produced and businesses started," said
Hampson.
The small business counseling and technical
assistance programs provided help to over 2,183
clients and entrepreneurs in the Grand Ronde
area during 1999 alone. They have created online
services to expand their outreach and offer "any-time-anyplace"
service to clients.
Hampson praised Moore, Sheila Herber, Perri
McDaniel, Doug Hampton and the rest of the
department's staff for maintaining a tradition of
service and quality.
"These people have taken the ONABEN model
and made it work. They not only made their cen-
. rS. v.' V 5
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Small Business Development
Grand Ronde staff (pictured from left):
Larry Black, Perri McDaniel, Elaine Moore,
Sheila Herber, Doug Hampton and
Barbara Lake. Not pictured Roland Metzger.
ter work, they help the whole network," said
Hampson.
"Grand Ronde has always been the flagship cen
ter, and we have learned a lot from them," said
Gary George, ONABEN's Board Chair and Man
ager of the Wildhorse Resort of the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
"The importance of our mission has been af
firmed by our customers, the Tribes, and our con
tributors," said Hampson.
Hampson points to a recent $25,000 grant from
the Spirit Mountain Community Fund as an ex
ample of the confidence people have shown in the
enterprise.
"Although we cannot award grants to Tribal
programs directly, we are always looking for ways
to support the Native American community," said
Angela Ellis, Spirit Mountain Community Fund's
Advisor. "ONABEN helps Native American people
realize their dreams and become self-sufficient,
and that is what we are all about."
The core mission of the Small Business depart
ment has stayed the same: to help small businesses
start, grow, succeed and, in the process, benefit
their community.
ONABEN programs have a social as well as an
economic purpose. In helping small entrepreneurs
start and grow their businesses, they not only ben
efit the firm but also help create communities and
foster economic development. To accomplish their
mission, they reach out to segments of the popula
tion that have experienced barriers in the market
place and yet possess great-untapped potential.
ONABEN offers something for each and every
small business. They provide entrepreneurial
development assistance and they are a voice for
small business amid macro-economic changes, glo
balization of markets, technology, legislative and
regulatory developments.
The Small Business Administration Business In
formation Center at Grand Ronde was among one
of the first in the nation and the first Tribal de
partment to create an online presence. Five years
ago, they began to build a website to provide in
formation and services electronically. Today they
have grown from no businesses served on the In-
ternet to over 250 accesses each week. They ex
pecVthe number to double in 2001.
K0
Sipininaii!
Elaine Moore 503-879-2478
Small Business Division Manager
Barbara Lake 503-879-2476
; Business Information Center Coordinator
Doug Hampton............ 503-879-2484
Computer Training Specialist
Larry Black .................. 503-879-4582
Small Business Development Project Specialist
Sheila Herber 503-879-2492
Business Development Specialist I
Perri McDaniel 503-879-2487
Business Development Specialist II
Roland Metzger ..503 879-2477
Economic Development Specialist
FAX..... 503-879-2479
"I have seen our class participants walk in with
a sacred dream that they are afraid to share in
public, and walk away ten weeks later with more
self-confidence and the tools to pursue their
dream," said Sheila Herber, the Tribe's Business
Development Specialist. "It's inspirational to watch
the transition our students go through and their
dedication to their dream."
With another new year here, the Tribe's Small
Business department is ready to dominate once
again. They can help you access your ability to
take your dream of starting a small business and
determine if you are ready to make that dream a
reality.