May
22
11:00 AM11:00

Current Opportunities for Economic Development That Shouldn't Be Missed: Energy (Virtual Session)

Brief Description: The energy sector represents an area of significant infrastructural need on tribal and Native lands, provides tremendous current opportunities for significant funding, and offers fertile ground for new partnerships with non-Native entities and governments. This session will bring together the foundational elements of plan development and implementation with the goal of making the audience aware of the current landscape and opportunities in energy for Native communities. We want to describe how even Native communities that are new to energy can & should enter this space and access resources, including who they should consider partnering with. 

The session will feature a panel of energy experts, each of whom will highlight concrete examples of how tribes and Native communities have implemented energy-related projects and developed new partnerships in the energy space as part of their community economic development plans and strategies. As always, Q+A opportunities will be built into the session. 

Meet the Speakers

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Jun
24
10:00 AM10:00

Linking Housing and Economic Development: A Workshop on Removing Siloes and Integrating Community Development Activities (In-Person Workshop)

  • Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Brief Description:
Economic development and housing are often discussed as inextricably linked. However, in practice, those who seek to implement comprehensive plans or develop housing subdivisions that incorporate complementary non-housing components find that integrating these two activities is obstructed by funding restrictions that force these activities into mutually exclusive siloes.

As a result, very few tribal housing complexes or subdivisions incorporate community economic development components such as: transportation, job creation, small business development, community facilities, childcare, or health clinics. Community members then experience barriers, such as high transportation costs, which prevent sustained employment or furthering of education, stifle entrepreneurialism, and restrict access to healthcare and necessary goods and services.

This will be a highly interactive discussion-based half-day workshop led by experts in the areas of regulation, capital acquisition, transportation and infrastructure, economic development supportive housing, and asset mapping. We will unite experts and attendees to illustrate the importance of a wholistic approach to comprehensive planning efforts and identify pathways to integrate key community sectors like housing and economic development.

This half-day hands-on workshop will:

  • Address supplementing housing development with specific activities, including those in sectors like energy, transportation, healthcare, and small business development, that naturally complement, support and benefit from housing development.

  • Explain how these activities can be conducted in conjunction or in parallel with housing development.

  • Describe how these strategies present opportunities to increase the viability of the aforementioned interdependent activities and contribute to the resilience of the larger tribal economies they seek to stimulate.

  • Workshop participants will be encouraged to connect with each other and share their own models, challenges, innovations, opportunities, and lessons learned to promote greater knowledge sharing and collaboration among Native communities.

Tribal planners, leaders, economic development practitioners, housing staff and all others who seek to develop and implement comprehensive community economic development strategies and who are interested in breaking down historical development siloes in tribal communities are invited and encouraged to attend this session.

This workshop is supported by a grant from EDA to establish a Community of Practice to support Indigenous Economic Development. Partners on that grant include Big Water Consulting, NAIHC, and Urban Institute.

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Apr
24
11:00 AM11:00

Structuring Economic Development in Native Communities (Virtual Session)

Brief Description: During this session, Dustin Goslin of Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures will share the MLVC story and present strategies for the successful integration of tribal and Native enterprises, economic development departments, corporations, small businesses and other entities in local and regional economic development. The story shares information about the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, life pre-gaming and post-gaming, and the diversification of the MLCV portfolio over 30+ years. In particular, the story will discuss the background of MLCV’s Three Pillars, with a deep dive on the Place Pillar and the initiatives MLCV has made substantial progress on including projects that improve, among other things, workforce participation.

Meet the speaker

Dustin (Pam-Mbwit-M’ko) grew up near the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa community and is a proud member of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation of Mayetta, Kansas.

Dustin’s work in Indian Country and rural Minnesota have allowed him to build a diverse background in small and large for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, Federal/Tribal governments, Tribal gaming, and now Tribal economic development. Dustin currently serves as the vice president of business and economic development for Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures (MLCV). In this role, he works to build economic vibrancy in the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy by connecting people and capital to leverage sustainable investments in business, workforce housing, and planned infrastructure. Since beginning this role, Dustin has worked on over $245.7MM in capital and real estate investments and facilitated numerous community-building events and presentations. Dustin’s previous roles have included working as an executive for Grand Casino and Indian Health Service, and as a manager for upscale Hilton hotel brands.

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Mar
20
11:00 AM11:00

Promoting a Tribal Citizen Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for the Betterment of Tribal Communities and Economies (Virtual Session)

Brief Description: Tribal citizen entrepreneurs have a vital role in strengthening tribal communities and economies. Understanding the challenges that tribal citizen entrepreneurs face when starting businesses in tribal communities is the first step in crafting and developing programs to better assist them. The purpose of the March plenary session is to: 

  • Highlight the benefits of promoting tribal citizen enterprises for the betterment of a tribal communities and economies;  

  • Identify barriers that tribal entrepreneurs often face when starting businesses; and  

  • Provide solutions for overcoming those barriers by sharing stories of collaborative practices that tribal government leaders can implement to cultivate healthy tribal entrepreneurial ecosystems. 

This session is targeted towards tribal leaders and staff who are interested in supporting and cultivating their tribal members to become entrepreneurs to better their tribal communities.

Meet The Speakers

Jessica Burghart, MBA, MA (Prairie Band Potawatomi) works as a Professor at the Haskell Indian Nations University School of Business, is a doctoral candidate at Walden University, and an Ethics Commissioner for the Prairie Band Potawatomi. Before Haskell, Burghart spent 6+ years in management and as a Small Business Advocate for the Kansas City National Security Center. 

Mitchell Berg, Ph.D. teaches Local Government and Community Development at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He leads efforts to create a toolkit designed to assist MN tribal citizen members who want to start businesses in their tribal communities. Berg previously spent 8+ years as a city administrator and economic developer for the City of Mahnomen, MN, while working closely with the White Earth Nation on economic development initiatives.

Margaret Rose Ellis, MA (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin) is a doctoral student completing her Ph.D. program in First Nations Education at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. Ellis is the Co-Founder of She Rises Collective: Indigenous Women in Business, and co-founder of Kenco Tribal Marketing Initiative, a full-service marketing and procurement agency serving tribal business enterprises. Margaret has owned the apparel company Mirax, LLC since 2011.

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Feb
7
11:00 AM11:00

Community of Practice - Kick-Off (Virtual Session)

The first session of the Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice will introduce the Community of Practice concept, provide time for participants to introduce themselves and their current work in economic development, discuss expectations and the structure of the community of practice, and learn about two innovative projects from tribal and Indigenous communities (see below).

Economic Development Diversity - Successes from Across Indian Country

Brief Description: In this session, two lightning talks will showcase a range of economic development activities taking place throughout Indian Country. Presenters will share their experiences with implementing a recent economic development project. Questions and discussion will follow.

Full Meeting Agenda (Opens in new tab)

Learn about the presenters:

 
 
 
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Nov
8
6:15 PM18:15

Community of Practice at NADO’s Annual Training Conference

The Indigenous Economic Development CoP Team partnered with NADO and held a session at their conference for Economic Development Districts and Regional Development Organizations. Kevin shared best practices and recommendations for regional economic development professionals looking to engage with Tribes and Native organizations within or near their service areas.

Session Title: Regional Development Organizations and Tribal Partnerships

Brief Description: This session provided an overview of the Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice and shared recommendations for how non-tribal entities such as Economic Development Districts (EDDs) and Regional Development Organizations (RDOs) can work effectively with Tribal governments within or near their service area, including potential funding sources for collaborative planning processes.

Presentation Slides are included below:

Bridging the Gap: Regional Development Organizations and Tribal Partnerships


            
          

          
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11:30 AM11:30


              

              


            


          


        

        


          

          
2023 Economic Development Conference for the EDA Denver Region


          

          
            
            




  
The National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) invited Big Water Consulting to introduce the CoP at their conference for the EDA Denver Region, for their parallel Community of Practice for Economic Development Districts.























  
  















































  

    
  
    


      

      
        

          
        
        

        
          
            
          

            

                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                

            

          

        
          
        

        
          
          

            
Kevin alongside Erica Heller (Community Builders), Ciara Ristig (NADO) and Brittany Sickler (EDA).

          

        
      
        

      

    

  


  







  
Kevin Klingbeil, Managing Director of Big Water Consulting, introduced the EDA-funded Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice and started outreach to bring together current and potential tribal/Native EDA grantees and economic development practitioners working in and with tribal communities to learn from each other and build capacity for project planning and securing and implementing project funds. 
In addition to presenting alongside the coordinators of other EDA-funded communities of practice, including CoPs focused on Coal Communities and Economic Development Districts, Kevin delivered a separate presentation addressing the issue of tribal data sovereignty as well as the Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice as part of a comprehensive session involving distinguished speakers from the Mountain | Plains Regional Native CDFI Coalition (Jael Kampfe and Gerald Sherman of Indigenous Impact), Sicangu Co./Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Michael Lapointe), the Center for Indian Country Development (Andrew Huff), Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Bernadette Cuthair) and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (Tim Azure).   
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