First Nations Oweesta Corporation
Oweesta Collaborative Rapid City, SD
Like many reservations in the western United States, the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Reservations in South Dakota are plagued by persistent poverty. One key factor that contributes to their economic hardship is the lack of small businesses and the resulting lack of private-sector jobs.
The Oweesta Collaborative is a partnership of nine regional organizations—including three certified Native CDFIs—in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana dedicated to transforming reservation economies by strengthening the culture of small business development. Funded by a three-year, $2 million grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Oweesta Collaborative provides technical assistance, education, networking, and access to capital to Native entrepreneurs on the Wind River, Pine Ridge, and Cheyenne River Reservations. Its ultimate goal is to create a system for entrepreneurial development that can be applied in other reservations across America.
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The Oweesta Collaborative was formed by First Nations Oweesta, the nation’s premier intermediary for Native CDFIs. Established in 1986, Oweesta (from the Mohawk word for money) helps to build strong Native institutions and programs through various professional services designed to build local capacity and to promote economic sovereignty.
During 2006 alone, the first year of the Oweesta Collaborative, partners created, expanded, or sustained 80 Native-owned businesses, provided training in entrepreneurship and small business management to 592 adults and 300 young people, and provided technical assistance to 274 entrepreneurs. They are indeed creating a functioning and adaptable system for private-sector economic development in rural Native communities.
“With the Oweesta Collaborative, as with all of our work in Native communities, we try to follow the principles of our Oweesta asset-building model and develop institutions, programs, resources, and tools that can be easily adapted in the communities we work in,” says Elsie Meeks, President and CEO of First Nations Oweesta Corporation. “We know every Native community is different, but we continue to work on learning from the successes as well as the challenges so we can promote collaboration and cooperation, and spread the seeds of economic success.”
