The Federal regulations governing the United States credit program for Indian tribes are being broadened to permit loans of funds which the tribes can use for the purpose of attracting industry to the vicinity of reservations, the Department of the Interior announced today.
In explaining the significance of the changes, Indian Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons pointed to the example of the Navajo Tribe in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah which has appropriated $300,000 of its own funds both this year and last year for an industry-fostering program. The new types of loans, he added, will make it possible for other tribes with little or no cash reserves to offer similar inducements.
Such inducements might include assistance in furnishing facilities, in training programs, and in the recruitment of qualified workers.
Loans will be made only to tribes having a form of organization acceptable to the Secretary and “at interest rates and under terms and conditions found by the Secretary to be in the public interest."
Encouragement of industry to establish plants near Indian reservations is an important phase of Commissioner Emmons t program to advance the economic and social welfare of Indian people. The work is headed by Carl W. Beck, Assistant to Commissioner Emmons.
Following is a tabulation of the plants which either have been established or definitely planned to date as a result of the program:
| Name and Home Base of Co. | Name and Location of New Plant | Type of Plant | Approximate Opening Date (actual or anticipated) | Tribes Involved | Anticipated Emp. of Indians |
| Saddlecraft, Inc. Knoxville, Tenn. | Cherokee Leathercraft Co. Cherokee, N.C. | Leather Goods | May 1956 | Eastern Cherokee | 40 |
|
Baby Line Furniture Co., Los Angeles, Calif. |
Navajo Furniture, Inc., Gallup, N. Mex. | Juvenile furn., shutters, etc. | Nov. 10, 1956 | Navajo | 100 |
| Lear, Inc., Santa Monica, Calif. | Lear Navajo, Flagstaff, Ariz. | Electronics | Nov. 15, 1956 | Navajo | 100 |
|
Parsons & Baker Phoenixville, Pa |
Casa Grande Mills, Inc. Casa Grande, Ariz. | Garments | March 1957 | Pima Papago | 125 (immediately); 700 (ultimately) |
|
The First Americans, Inc. |
The First Americans, Inc., Lame Deer, Mont | Fishing tackle, plastics and wood products | In Operation (Jan. 1957) | Northern Cheyenne | 75-100 |
|
New Moon Mobile Homes Co. |
New Moon Mobile Homes Co., Rapid City, S. Dak. | Mfg. of house trailers | March 1957 | S. Dak. Sioux Groups | 75-100 |
