Smoke Signals 3
MAY 1,2011
Casino hostts two-day small business conference
Speeches, seminars
aim to increase
indianpreneurship in
Pacific Northwest
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signal editor
Clara Pratte (Navajo), national
director of the Office of Native
American Affairs in the U.S. Small
Business Administration, summed
up an economic problem in Indian
Country succinctly.
Seventy percent of new jobs in
the United States are created by
small businesses that are operated
by entrepreneurs.
However, in Indian Country,
more often than not a $1 comes
in and then is quickly spent off
reservation, not circulating the
customary seven times through the
local economy because of the lack of
Native-owned small businesses.
The problem, said Danny Jordan,
Self-Governance Coordinator of the
Hoopa Valley (Calif.) Tribal Coun
cil, is how do Native American na
tions bring business opportunities
to where Native Americans live?
This discussion, as well as a
litany of others and training ses
sions, occurred during a two-day
small business conference held
April 20-21 at Spirit Mountain Ca
sino. Called 'Trading at the River,"
it was sponsored by the Oregon
Native American Business and
Entrepreneurial Network.
Pratte delivered some good news
to conference attendees. She said
Native-owned small businesses
Indianpreneurship are the
largest growing sector percentage
wise in the country.
"We're engaging in commerce,"
Pratte said during her keynote
speech on Thursday, April 21.
However, most of those Native
owned small businesses are be
ing established outside of Indian
Country.
"How do we bridge that discon
nect?" she asked rhetorically. "How
do we bring those businesses back
home? What is the secret sauce?"
Although she admitted not know
ing the definitive answer, she listed
several common characteristics of
Native nations where Indianpre
neurship is flourishing.
She cited leadership, where
Tribal leaders are "visionary and
fearless" in investing in Native
entrepreneurs.
She cited structure, where there
are strong Tribal court systems and
a separation between government
w
'
Photos by Michelle Alalmo
Tracy Stanhoff, president and creative director of Ad Pro, former Tribal Chair
of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and president of the American Indian
Chamber of Commerce of California, was a keynote speaker at the ninth annual
Trading at the River Conference &Tradeshow held at Spirit Mountain Casino on
Wednesday, April 20. The conference also took place on Thursday, April 21 .
Tribal member Bryan Mercier
listens to keynote speaker
Tracy Stanhoff while attending
the Trading at the River
Conference &Tradeshow.
Mercier is on the Board of
Directors of the Oregon
Native American Business
and Entrepreneurial Network,
organizers of the event.
and business.
And she cited Tribal nations
that are good at leveraging all of
the resources - Tribal, federal and
state - that are available to Indi
anpreneurs. Pratte cited the case of an Indi
anpreneur who recently graduated
from a Small Business Admin
istration training and used that
newfound knowledge to increase
business by 300 percent.
"Think of all of the different buck
ets you can dip into," Pratte said.
"If we build an alliance together,
there is nothing Native American
entrepreneurs cannot do."
Jordan, during a question-and-answer
session, said that many
Tribes are not adept at capturing
their own money through purchas
ing from Native-owned companies
and have yet to create their own
financial infrastructure that would
foster reservation-based, locally
owned economies.
Pratte agreed. "We (Native
Tribes) are hemorrhaging money
every day outside of our borders,"
she said, suggesting that Tribes
look for ways to foster economic
Veterans Powwow sot for July 8-1 0
The 2011 Veterans Powwow will be held Friday through Sunday,
July 8-10, at Uyxat Powwow Grounds off Hebo Road near Fort Yam
hill State Park. Grand entries will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 7
p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Master of ceremonies will be Nick Sixkiller and whip man will be
Tony Whitehead.
Veterans, dancers and members of the public are invited to attend.
There will be arts and crafts and food vendors. Free camping and park
ing will be available, but no drugs, alcohol or pets are permitted.
For more information, contact Veterans Committee member Chris
Tinney at 503-883-3610 or chris.tinneygrandronde.org. D
development on their lands. She
cited establishment of free trade
zones as one possibility.
On Wednesday, April 20, Tracy
Stanhoff discussed her Los Angeles-based
company, Ad Pro, which
provides advertising and graphic
design services. She said she start
ed the business with $1,500 and
now it works for large international
companies, such as Boeing.
Stanhoff also discussed her chair
manship of the Prairie Band Po
tawatomi Nation when it was going
through the process of taking over
operation of its casino, Prairie Band
Casino and Resort 15 miles north
of Topeka, from Harrah's.
"Our Tribe transformed north
east Kansas from a depression," she
said, citing the multiplier effect of
casino dollars flowing through the
local economy.
She said when she took over as
chairman of the Tribe, she was
nicknamed "F5," which is the stron
gest classification of tornado, by ca
sino employees partly because she
went to the Contracting Depart
ment and told them she was tired of
her Tribal casino not hiring Native
entrepreneurs when possible.
"We need to focus on growing
wealth," Stanhoff said, "and build
ing sustainable businesses. You
need to build something you know
about, something you have a pas
sion about."
She stressed that Indianpreneurs
need to "be real," and not front busi
nesses for nonNatives just to access
federal business assistance.
Stanhoff said Indianpreneurs
can be catalysts for change in their
communities by providing jobs for
Native people. She also suggested
that Tribal communities separate
politics from business so that deci
sions can be made quickly and decision-makers
can be flexible.
After the keynote speakers on
both days, Trading at the River" at
tendees had a choice of seminars to
attend that ranged from helping In
dianpreneurs use Native chambers
of commerce and business associa
tions to help grow their business to
ways Tribal enterprises can become
partners with Indianpreneurs.
There also was some humor. The
synopsis for "Indianpreneurship:
Working for Yourself, Your Fam
ily and Your Community Through
Small Business" stated: "Is entre
preneurship a surefire way to be
come spiritually rich, economically
self-sufficient and exhausted?"
In addition to the speakers and
seminars, "Trading At the River"
featured Native-owned businesses
and vendors, who were selling Na
tive arts and crafts.
Bryan Hill (Quinault), who owns
Accurate Land Surveys of Hills
boro, said he attended "Trading
At the River" to network and dis
seminate information about his
company to Tribal governments
and Native-owned businesses.
Tribal Elder Raymond Petite
attended, selling Native arts and
crafts.
Tribal member Bryan Mercier,
who sits on the network's Board of
Directors, attended, as did Grand
Ronde Tribal Economic Develop
ment Director Titu Asghar.
"Trading At the River" was ap
propriately sponsored by the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde
and Spirit Mountain Casino on its
20th anniversary.
In 1991, the Oregon Native Amer
ican Business and Entrepreneurial
Network was formed as a non-profit,
public benefit corporation by four
Tribes the Confederated Tribes
of Grand Ronde, the Klamath
Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz and the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs. Since then, the
Confederated Tribes of Umatilla
and Tribes in Washington state
have joined.
The network was formed "to
become actively engaged in en
couraging individual enterprise" to
establish a private business sector
in Indian Country.
"By increasing private enterprise
on the reservations, Tribes can
diversify their economic base and
decrease their reliance on federal
revenues," the network's Vision
Statement at www.onaben.org
says.
That sentiment was echoed by
Stanhoff.
"Learn to flourish in competition.
Competition is not bad. The most
important thing in Indian Country
right now is small businesses," she
said. "All of the problems in Indian
Country ... a lack of education ...
underserved health care ... that all
could be solved by building wealth
in our communities. We're chang
ing this world in Indian Country.
Don't you forget that. Keep moving
forward and growing your busi
nesses." "We're only truly sovereign,"
Pratte said, "when we're economi
cally independent." B