Native business Archives - Johnson Scholarship Foundation

Tag Archive for: Native business

National Center’s Chris James Shares Insights on Business Education in Indian Country

December 20, 2024/in News, Sherry Salway Black

Written by Sherry Salway Black, Johnson Scholarship Foundation board vice chair

Over the past 30 years, the Johnson Scholarship Foundation (JSF) has been supporting Native students pursuing business education through scholarships at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), Native-serving institutions and other universities.

Sherry Salway Black is Board Vice Chair of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. She is wearing a black blazer and has short silver hair.

Sherry Salway Black, JSF board vice chair, sat down with Chris James, president & CEO of the National Center.

The focus on education comes from the founder, Ted Johnson, Sr. The “business” education focus was the result of site visits to Indian Country. In the early and mid 1990s Ted Johnson, Jr. and Malcolm Macleod, son and nephew of JSF founders, respectively, traveled and met with TCU and tribal leaders. They heard about—and saw firsthand—the need for more economic activity in Native communities. They knew it was a golden opportunity to help make change.

Given JSF’s mission and focus, I was excited to be talking with the head of the oldest, largest business-focused organization serving Indian Country—and someone with significant business knowledge and experience personally, to get his take on the importance of Native students pursuing business education and degrees. Here is what Chris James has to say.

Q: Given your longtime involvement in Native business, what do you think is the role of business education for Native people?

A: Tribes continue to grow their enterprises. They need to have people, preferably from their communities, to manage these entities. We need to have people trained in management, finance, accounting, marketing, and other disciplines. Having a pipeline of Native people educated in business is important to meet the needs of tribal businesses.

Alaska Native corporations have done this well, supporting their members through scholarships, internships, and pathways to management. Ho Chunk Inc. has also done this well, building a pipeline of tribal citizens to move into their expanding tribal enterprises. I know there are other tribes doing this as well.

How can we create management jobs within our companies that are accessible to our own people? With the growth of tribal enterprises and the increasing sophistication of tribal government programs, sometimes in the billions, we need people from our communities with management experience. We need team members with the community and cultural knowledge and business education and sense to achieve success.

It’s important to engage youth early. Youth may not see many pathways growing up on the reservation. I didn’t really see many when I graduated high school. I had the option to go to college or to stay at home and work in the family business. Creating these pathways to college, entrepreneurship, and work is important.

Citizen entrepreneurs are important because then you have a business owner—and every time you have a business owner, you have a potential community leader. These are the people who may become leaders of the tribe, council members, school board members—making important decisions for their communities.

Q: What advice would you give to Native students who want to study business?

A: My advice is to look for a mentor. This person could be from inside your community or from the outside. Look for someone to whom you can just say, “Hey, how did you do it? What was your path? What classes did you take in college? What motivated you to go to college? What opportunities were there for you inside or outside of your community?”

Chris James is president and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

And do not be afraid to ask questions. It’s okay to send emails to folks and say, “I know you have a successful business. I’d love to have a conversation.”

Try to find someone who might have an opportunity. The National Center works with hundreds of businesses throughout Indian Country. There could be a mentor or internship opportunity there. And if you are told “no” the first time, don’t get discouraged. You may have to go to 20 people before someone says, “Yes, I can help you with this.” You have to be the one empowered. Everyone can give you resources but you have to find the strength within yourself and know how to use those resources to be successful.

Q: At the annual JSF Entrepreneurship Scholarship meeting when we bring together representatives of the schools we are actively working with or have endowments, the need for mentors and internships is always a high priority. What advice would you give to Native business students who are looking for mentors and internship placements?

A: #1. You have to search, dig, and put yourself out there. Use all the technology you have available to search for opportunities. Use artificial intelligence, like chatGPT, to help you. And think through the type of internship you want. Use your community networks. There may be opportunities working for your tribe, perhaps in offices you hadn’t thought about before.

#2. Make sure you are prepared. Take some time to work on your resume—work with your school, parents, and even technology to get your resume up to par. It may take someone else to see or hear about your experience and [help you] present it accurately.

#3. Get out of your comfort zone. You need to be proactive and engaged if you want to get to the next level. Instead of waiting for someone to ask you to do something, be there with ideas. Never go to a meeting with an empty notebook. You bring your ideas to the table. That’s going to help you be prepared when you get the job or the internship.

The National Center has this great recognition program, “40 Under 40”, and you can go to the website to see all 600 amazing Native people over the past 15 years. This list could be one of those resources to look for a potential mentor.

Q: What are the types of businesses that a younger generation might be interested in starting?

A: There are so many exciting areas where we see potential growth. These go hand-in-hand with those mentioned in the part one of our interview—technology, exporting to international markets, federal contracting, and environmental businesses. Let me focus specifically on one sector: agriculture. We have land that is either leased to others or not used efficiently. How can we put it to more productive use? Farming itself has changed since I grew up. Now technology can analyze specific needs for specific products. Food sustainability and safety are big challenges now—and places to look for opportunities.

And I want to be sure to mention the growing number of Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs)—close to 70 certified organizations across 27 states. These organizations make capital, training, and technical assistance available to Native people with existing and startup businesses. The National Center recently launched its own CDFI—Native Edge Finance to focus on clean energy projects.

Native people—particularly students in business-related degree programs, have so many exciting opportunities available today.

Author’s note: This interview took place before the December 18 announcement of philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarding more than $100 million to Native CDFIs in the United States.

National Center’s Chris James Shares Insights on the State of Native Business and What’s Ahead

November 22, 2024/in National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, News, Sherry Salway-Black

Written by Sherry Salway Black, Johnson Scholarship Foundation board vice chair

There are few people in Indian Country who have the well-rounded experience and depth of knowledge about Native business and economic development than Chris James. He comes from a family of small business owners in western North Carolina, the homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He grew up with firsthand experience. And he learned more about business in his youth through Junior Achievement USA, coming full circle as he now sits on the board of the national Junior Achievement organization.

Sherry Salway Black, JSF board vice chair, sat down with Chris James, president & CEO of the National Center.

Before he left his Cherokee home, he served as staff for the Sequoyah Fund, Inc., a Native Community Development Financial Institution (NCDFI)—serving his home community with business technical assistance and capital. Chris took that hands-on experience to Washington, D.C, where he worked as a liaison between the Treasury Department CDFI Fund, Tribal governments, and other federal agencies. He was appointed in 2011 by President Barack Obama to serve as Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he led the Offices of Field Operation and Native American Affairs and launched the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

In 2017 Chris became the president and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (National Center), the oldest and largest Native organization providing business development and training. During his tenure, he doubled the National Center’s revenue, expanding procurement and training programs throughout the country while boosting attendance at the annual Reservation Economic Summit by nearly 30 percent in the last five years.

I was fortunate to visit recently with Chris and his amazing staff in their Mesa, Ariz. headquarters—and participate in a podcast episode (ep. 14). As a quid pro quo, Chris kindly agreed to an interview with me to honor Native American Heritage Month.

Q: Describe your view of the state of Native business and entrepreneurship today and the major changes over the past 20 to 30 years.

A: I see the state of Native business and entrepreneurship from a global perspective in two key areas: growth in diversification and growth in federal and corporate partnerships.

Gaming was a new sector for tribes 30 to 40 years ago. Going from bingo halls to casino gaming was a big transition in the late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s and had been the laser focus of tribal economic development. Now gaming is just one piece. Diversification of tribal businesses might include agriculture or building an IT company or government contracting. There are so many diverse business opportunities. These businesses can be tribally- or individually-owned.

Q: Could you explain what you mean by federal and corporate partnerships?

A: Twenty years ago, a federal agency or federal program may have had one Native coordinator, but they were few and far between. Even 15 years ago when I was in the federal government, I was sometimes the only Native voice in the room. Fast forward to today—the Biden Administration has really increased that number. This growth is a big deal. Now, instead of one voice in the room, you often have four to five voices. That’s all the way from the White House level and trickling down through the agencies. The National Center did a profile in 2020 of Native individuals in key positions in the federal government. We identified more than 10 in high-level key leadership and decision-making positions, starting with Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland.

Chris James, president and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development

Q: Is the same true for corporations?

A: Yes, it is. Twenty years ago, we rarely had an office or a person who was dedicated to Native American business and communities. Now Amazon, Walmart, and Alaska Airlines all have coordinators. Nike has a huge division—N7. It’s the Native voice not only diversifying the corporation but also advocating for more Native businesses in the supply chain, more support for youth programs, and support for more Native employees. We are well under one percent in those corporations, but there is an increased focus. Those employees are having an impact.

And, corporations are starting to understand the diversity of Native business. Fifteen or 20 years ago, these corporations may have had a notion of a Native business as an artisan—which is a great business. Now they are seeing that a Native business actually has the capacity to do a half-a-billion-dollar contract. Corporations now want to partner more with Native businesses.

Q: What do you see in the future for Native businesses?

A: I see the trends above continuing. Tribally-owned corporations will continue to grow and diversify. This helps the community with job creation; it helps the community foster a sense of entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s an income stream for the tribe to diversify their own portfolio. I don’t see that stopping. In fact, I think there are even more resources out there to help them grow. About two years ago the National Center launched an export office. We’re helping not only individuals, but tribes get into international markets. About 96 percent of companies do business only in the US. There are markets outside the U.S. Our tribally- and individually-owned businesses are seeing those opportunities and going after them.

There has been an emphasis in the Biden Administration with the CHIPS and Science Act, bringing more technology back to the United States, especially manufacturing semiconductors and microchips. Tribes need to be able to access these opportunities—from manufacturing all the way to an individual being part of a subcontract. It also brings in more job creation for our communities.

Another opportunity is to create more environmentally friendly businesses, looking for ways to create cheaper and more sustainable energy sources. We need to think about helping the earth heal itself. It could include solar, wind, or hydrogen energy technology. Tribes are looking at those environmental projects to not only support their communities by creating more energy for environmental sustainability, but also creating more jobs.

Q: What about the role of the individual entrepreneur or small business owner in the future?

A: There is also more focus on the citizen entrepreneur. There are opportunities with the growing number of Native CDFIs—especially the “legacy” NCDFIs that have been around for over 20 years.

When I started in the CDFI industry, we were like a start-up business. We struggled, constantly looking for funds, trying to get more clients and projects; trying to figure out our role in the community. Now over 20 to 30 years later, the established CDFIs, the legacy CDFIs—there are probably about 10 or so that I could name. They now have a track record, they know their communities, they are innovating, and they’ve built programs specifically around the needs of their communities and supporting that entrepreneur—the citizen entrepreneur—giving them the tools to build sustainable businesses, supporting them with capital and crucial training. The CDFIs have done well in our communities and will continue to do well. We need to look at the impact and what has been created over the years. The impact is multi-generational, and the institutions are stable. Now there are more than 65 NCDFIs in 27 states and more in the pipeline—supporting Native citizen entrepreneurs.