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Tribal gaming industry faces labor shortage amid COVID-19 recovery

17 January 2022 Chez Oxendine
Tribal gaming has seen a roaring recovery after COVID-19 induced slumps, but that growth could be checked by an increasingly dire labor shortage. That’s according to industry insiders who spoke during a Jan. 12 webinar hosted by the National Indian Gaming Association, which highlighted that the labor shortage poses key challenges, even amid a period of improved financial performance.

NDN Collective selected for $50M grant to address wealth gap

17 Jan Economic Development
RAPID CITY, S.D. — NDN Collective aims to redistribute $50 million in grant funding from the Bush Foundation to help close the racial wealth gap for Indigenous people in North Dakota, South Dakota...

Diné Development pursues aggressive 8(a) strategy to grow market share in government contracting

December 20 Federal 8(a) Contracting
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For Austin Tsosie, there’s never a second to lose when it comes to jumping on a new opportunity, so much so that he’ll create a new corporation before he even knows how it will...

Wind Creek Hospitality cites continued customer engagement as goal in FlowPlay acquisition

January 03 Gaming
ATMORE, Ala. — Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ gaming arm has acquired Seattle, Wash.-based digital gaming company FlowPlay Inc. in a move to broaden its offerings to with customers “on or off our...

Urban Native Era eyes expansion following REI partnership

January 17 Entrepreneurism
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Joey Montoya, the founder and CEO of fashion company Urban Native Era, had just returned last year from New York Fashion Week when he received an interesting product inquiry.
 

Yakama Nation advances food sovereignty efforts with Inaba Produce Farms acquisition 

Food/Agriculture
WAPATO, Wash. — As Lon Inaba and his siblings started to contemplate retiring and selling their family farm in south-central Washington, he heard a report that the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation wanted to break into the agricultural industry.

Native nonprofits receive $38M in grants from Bezos Earth Fund to address climate change

Energy
Thanks to a new infusion of capital, the Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund is itself poised for acceleration. The solar project development organization under the umbrella of Oakland, Calif.-based GRID Alternatives received $12 million in funding from Bezos Earth Fund, a philanthropic venture led by Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos that invested $38 million in five Native nonprofits.

First American Capital Corp. creates new products tailored to help tribes start new enterprises

Finance
HALES CORNER, Wis. — A Wisconsin-based Native community development financial institution is leveraging grant funding to create new products that serve what it sees as a coming wave of new tribal enterprises in the next few years.

White Bison Native Art continues tradition of cultural education 

Arts and Culture
CHARLEVOIX, Mich. — Virginia Fields has spent many years selling her jewelry at powwows and other local events. However, her sales at events were not always consistent, and required a great deal of traveling from location to location.

Cherokee Nation invests $430M in new health care facilities

Health Care
A “historic” $430 million investment will bolster the Cherokee Nation health care system that’s experienced unprecedented usage throughout the pandemic.

Biden initiative addresses systemic challenges in Native educational system, focuses on workforce development opportunities

Higher Education
Like his predecessors before him, President Joe Biden issued an executive order outlining how the federal government can support the economic future for Native Americans by strengthening educational opportunities, particularly at Tribal Colleges and Universities.

Tlingit and Haida expand Juneau campus with pair of property acquisitions

Real Estate
JUNEAU, Alaska — The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has purchased two buildings with more than 92,000 square feet in downtown Juneau’s Aak’w Village District.

Report details $14B ‘economic powerhouse’ in Native tourism

Tourism
A report by the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association demonstrates for the first time the scope of the economic effects the Native tourism industry has on Indian Countrty.

Aleut Communities aim for first-ever co-managed marine sanctuary with PRIME Initiative

Sovereignty
ST. PAUL, Alaska — The Aleut Communities of St. Paul Island and St. George Island, collectively known as the Unangax̂, sit a few miles apart in the Bering Sea as part of the group of Pribilof Islands, about 200 miles off the coast of mainland Alaska. It’s that proximity to the North Pole has placed the islands at the leading edge for experiencing the effects of climate change.