Here is a round up of business news briefs from around Indian Country.
Economic Development
• Kurtis Trevan, a citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians and CEO of Gun Lake Investments, the tribe’s non-gaming economic development entity, was appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees. His term runs from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2028. Trevan is an alum of Western Michigan, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He also has a master’s degree in finance from Walsh College and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Real estate
• The Patawomeck Tribe of Virginia Indians is moving ahead with plans for a new cultural center that it hopes to open this year near Falmouth, Va., according to a report in the Fredericksburg, Va.-based Free-Lance Star. Although the tribe is about 8-12 months behind schedule, “The dream is still there, it’s still alive. We’re moving forward every day,” Minnie Lightner, the tribal council’s administrative assistant, said in the report. The project aims to recreate a traditional village to show what life was like for the tribe more than 500 years ago. The tribe is leasing the property from Stafford County and has received a number of grants to help fund the project, according to the report.
Gaming
• Wind Creek Hospitality, the gaming division of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, Ala., and bookmaker Betfred USA Sports have launched an online sports betting platform in Pennsylvania, where the tribe operates the Wind Creek Bethlehem casino. The online offering follows the launch of a retail sportsbook at the casino in November. The new platform allows people physically located in Pennsylvania to place wagers on a range of sporting events, using a web browser or dedicated mobile app. “Launching the online Sportsbook provides a dynamic element to our online gaming experience that enables our Guests to engage with us and play from anywhere they like while in PA without requiring any travelling,” Wind Creek Hospitality Chief Marketing Officer Ken Rohman said in a statement. The Bethlehem, Pa.-based casino had closed from Dec. 12-Jan. 4 because of state restrictions related to mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health care
• The Coquille Indian Tribe is working to open a new outpatient medical clinic in a facility in Eugene, Ore. that it purchased in part with a $900,000 Indian Community Development Block Grant, according to a report from Oregon NPR station KLCC. The new facility is about 100 miles from the tribe’s traditional territory on the Oregon Coast, but is an attempt to share resources and help the roughly 6,000 Indigenous people in the Eugene area. The tribe planned to open the facility in late December for flu shots and COVID testing and eventually offer “culturally sensitive” medicine, according to the report.
Finance
• The American Indian Graduate Center has launched the Investing in Native CPAs Program to fund 150 Indigenous students who are studying for accounting and finance degrees. The Center matched a $1 million gift from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation for the program, which aims to increase the number of Native CPAs over the next 10 years, according to a report in Cherokee Phoenix. According to data cited by Albuquerque Business First, American Indian and Alaska Native people made up less than 1 percent of accounting program graduates in 2017 and 2018. “To promote self-determination in tribally driven economic development, it is critical to have a full spectrum of financial and accounting professionals,” AIGC Executive Director Angelique Albert said in a statement. The scholarship can be used to support tuition and professional licensing exam fees.
