- Details
- By Jamie Miller, Special to Tribal Business News
- Real Estate
After their mother's death, Ellen and Serena Harmon and their four brothers pooled the proceeds from her life insurance policy to start a business on the Rosebud Reservation — the community their mother had grown up in as a child.
What began in 2005 as a family operation run from a mobile home kitchen has grown into a construction supply and equipment business with three divisions serving tribal, federal and regional customers across South Dakota. Today, Rosebud Building Products, Rosebud Rental and RBP Supply employ 15 people and provide building materials, equipment rentals and procurement services throughout the region.
Raised in Minnesota, the sisters saw the business as both an entrepreneurial venture and a way to reconnect with their family's Lakota roots. Earlier this year, the U.S. Small Business Administration named Rosebud Building Products South Dakota's Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year.
The sisters spoke with Tribal Business News about building a business in Indian Country, overcoming challenges in the construction industry and creating opportunities close to home.
How did you get started in the construction industry?
SERENA: We were raised with nature as our building blocks and our toys. We grew up outside, building forts. Our brothers had a love for building and a dream of building homes in Rosebud. That is what inspired the business.
ELLEN: When our mom passed away, we pooled the money together between the six of us siblings and started our business in a kitchen. We ran the business out of our brother’s mobile home kitchen. We had a Quonset, and that is where we had all of our supplies.
As Native women in the construction industry, what challenges have you faced building the business?
SERENA: We’re women-owned, we’re Native-owned, and we’re operating in a male-dominated industry. Sometimes it’s a challenge to be taken seriously. When companies come into a small town, they don’t expect a building center to have as much as we do. We invest in our inventory and our supplies.
Is there a project or initiative that you are most proud of?
ELLEN: We were able to buy our property two years ago with the help of Native CDFI Lakota Funds. That was huge because we have been able to make improvements … and we are able to open up a harvest market on our property, which is super exciting.
SERENA: One project with the Safety of Dams Program was really fun. They had a grant for a tribal program, but could not get anybody to help engineer the designs so I sat down with the director and helped design 20 pavilions and support the dock areas that are being installed now.
What does the SBA award say about the growth of the company over the past 20 years?
SERENA: It was such an honor. There are so many small businesses and women-owned businesses in South Dakota. To be given this award just shows how far we’ve come and gives us additional credibility.
ELLEN: It is especially meaningful because we get to make our community proud. There are more and more success stories coming out of Indian Country every day, and that representation matters. It shows our people — especially our young people — that we are capable of great things. It seems like people feel like they have to leave the reservation to find opportunity, this shows that isn’t the case. To be recognized at this level while building our businesses here at home means so much to us. This success would not have been possible without the support of our community, and it is an honor to represent Rosebud in this way.
What advice would you give someone early in their career?
ELLEN: People feel like they have to have everything perfect before they get started or have to have everything in place, but I just say just baby step it. Just take the first step. Just go for it. Things don’t have to be perfect.
SERENA: I didn’t go to school for this. People ask if I went to building school or architecture school and how I learned all of this. I tell them no … I just stay up all night researching and if I don’t know what something is, I learn it.
In Service is a new recurring series that highlights Native executives in professional services — law, banking, accounting, real estate, consulting, nonprofits and related fields — who work with tribes, tribal enterprises and Indigenous entrepreneurs. Know someone who should be featured? Contact [email protected].