Post by Okwes on Jun 6, 2007 17:28:35 GMT -5
'Hope sprouts with new business:' Speaker: Tribes must help entrepreneurs
What is your opinion of this
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff
RAPID CITY - American Indian entrepreneurs can bring great benefits to
reservations, but an expert in economic development in Indian Country said
Wednesday that tribal leaders must do their part to help entrepreneurs succeed.
Stephen Cornell of the Native American Institute at the University of
Arizona, and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, speaks
Wednesday at the 2007 South Dakota Indian Business Conference in Rapid City.
(Photo by Steve McEnroe, Journal staff)
"Citizen entrepreneurs cannot make this happen on their own," said Stephen
Cornell, director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the
University of Arizona and co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian
Economic Development.
Cornell was the keynote speaker at the South Dakota Indian Business
Conference, which continues today at the Ramkota Best Western Inn.
Cornell said he and others are seeing a shift in Indian economies from a
longtime dependence on "transfer funds" from the federal government to
productive economies that are generating jobs and income from within.
"It's about Indian nations finding new ways to give their peoples
opportunities" to live satisfying lives in Indian Country, Cornell said.
According to the Census Bureau, there were 197,300 native-owned firms in the
U.S. in 1997, a figure that included tribal enterprises such as casinos. In
2002, there were 206,125, a number that did not include tribal enterprise.
Indian-owned businesses on reservations can generate jobs, build wealth
throughout the reservation, diversify tribal economies, retain local talent,
improve quality of life and strengthen tribal sovereignty by reducing dependence
on outside resources, Cornell said.
Those businesses can also send an important message to residents, especially
youths. "When they see businesses sprouting up, they see hope," Cornell said.
But instead of making it easy for people to go into business on the
reservation, tribal governments often make it more difficult. Cornell gave the
example of a reservation with high unemployment, many would-be entrepreneurs and a
large local market.
Most reservation land was owned by the tribe, which had a site leasing
procedure that involved more than 100 steps. As a result, Cornell said, Indian
entrepreneurs chose to open businesses in a nearby border town where they could
open their doors within 30 days.
Cornell listed three key things tribes can do to support entrepreneurs:
change attitudes, make investments and change institutions.
Changing attitudes could mean regarding tribal entrepreneurs as partners in
meeting reservation needs, rather than as competition for tribal enterprises.
It could also mean changing cultural attitudes so that residents see locally
owned businesses as helping rebuild communities and families.
What is your opinion of this
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff
RAPID CITY - American Indian entrepreneurs can bring great benefits to
reservations, but an expert in economic development in Indian Country said
Wednesday that tribal leaders must do their part to help entrepreneurs succeed.
Stephen Cornell of the Native American Institute at the University of
Arizona, and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, speaks
Wednesday at the 2007 South Dakota Indian Business Conference in Rapid City.
(Photo by Steve McEnroe, Journal staff)
"Citizen entrepreneurs cannot make this happen on their own," said Stephen
Cornell, director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the
University of Arizona and co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian
Economic Development.
Cornell was the keynote speaker at the South Dakota Indian Business
Conference, which continues today at the Ramkota Best Western Inn.
Cornell said he and others are seeing a shift in Indian economies from a
longtime dependence on "transfer funds" from the federal government to
productive economies that are generating jobs and income from within.
"It's about Indian nations finding new ways to give their peoples
opportunities" to live satisfying lives in Indian Country, Cornell said.
According to the Census Bureau, there were 197,300 native-owned firms in the
U.S. in 1997, a figure that included tribal enterprises such as casinos. In
2002, there were 206,125, a number that did not include tribal enterprise.
Indian-owned businesses on reservations can generate jobs, build wealth
throughout the reservation, diversify tribal economies, retain local talent,
improve quality of life and strengthen tribal sovereignty by reducing dependence
on outside resources, Cornell said.
Those businesses can also send an important message to residents, especially
youths. "When they see businesses sprouting up, they see hope," Cornell said.
But instead of making it easy for people to go into business on the
reservation, tribal governments often make it more difficult. Cornell gave the
example of a reservation with high unemployment, many would-be entrepreneurs and a
large local market.
Most reservation land was owned by the tribe, which had a site leasing
procedure that involved more than 100 steps. As a result, Cornell said, Indian
entrepreneurs chose to open businesses in a nearby border town where they could
open their doors within 30 days.
Cornell listed three key things tribes can do to support entrepreneurs:
change attitudes, make investments and change institutions.
Changing attitudes could mean regarding tribal entrepreneurs as partners in
meeting reservation needs, rather than as competition for tribal enterprises.
It could also mean changing cultural attitudes so that residents see locally
owned businesses as helping rebuild communities and families.