WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb will address the pressing need for economic and employment growth throughout Indian Country at the National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies, which will be held September 16-19, 2002 in Phoenix, Ariz., at the Phoenix Civic Plaza. Norton and McCaleb are scheduled to speak on September 17.
“Tribes are an important part of America’s economy,” said Secretary Norton. “The National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies will be an opportunity for tribes, government and business to discuss how to develop, strengthen and sustain tribal economies while promoting job growth.”
The Summit, which is being sponsored by Tribes, Corporate America and Federal agencies, has the goals of creating 100,000 jobs in Indian Country by 2008 and establishing sustainable, market-driven tribal economies by 2020. The Summit also will showcase 120 successful Indian businesses. Summit objectives include creating a catalogue of tribal products and services as well as initiating alliances for creating business opportunities and living wage jobs in Indian Country.
“It is vital that tribes achieve lasting and self-sustaining reservation economies,” said Assistant Secretary McCaleb. “The National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies is about helping tribal leaders meet their economic and job development needs by bringing them together with business leaders and federal resources.”
Participants will be able to choose from a wide range of industry tracks in business areas such as fossil and renewable energy, manufacturing, agriculture, utilities and telecommunications, hospitality and tourism, aerospace, health care, construction, media and finance. Presentations will focus on the nuts and bolts of creating and sustaining economic systems in a tribal environment.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Tribal Budget Advisory Council, a committee comprised of representatives from Federally recognized tribes across the country, has been working with tribes, tribal organizations, Federal agencies and corporations to hold the summit as part of its efforts to remove barriers to progress and coordinate federal program resources.
In addition to Interior, Federal sponsors include the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), Department of Energy (DOE), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Bureau of the Census, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Education, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Community Development Investment Funds (CDIF).
For conference registration and other information visit www.doi.gov/special or www.lakotamall.com/nationalsummit.
