Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Chief Business & Economic Development Officer

Responsible for $130M annual business and economic development budget. Initially surveyed and evaluated all potential business development, expansion and investment options, and outlined a comprehensive business development and diversification strategy. Then, formed a new business entity to locate, evaluate, process, perform due diligence, and ultimately integrate new businesses into the organization for investment, portfolio diversification, economic development and job creation.

Developed the strategy and detailed plan for a 10,000 sq. mile business and economic development model. This was the basis for the application for, and subsequent winning of, the first ever 10-year designation Tribal Promise Zone for the Choctaw Nation including all of S.E. Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation is one of only three Tribal Promise Zones in the USA.

My Mission:
1- Evaluate existing businesses with a special focus on highway based retail.
2- Evaluate 10,000 sq. mi. of Choctaw Nation in SE OK for all possible business expansion & diversification options.
3- Evaluate options for strategic SE OK land purchases to support optimal economic development.
4- Evaluate all available funding sources and tax advantages for economic stimulation (see list below).
5- Formulate and recommend every possible option for economic development and job creation in SE OK, based on aforementioned evaluations.
6- Identify, pursue, evaluate, perform due diligence on, and advise Tribal leadership on major new business decisions, including partnerships, joint-ventures, strategic alliances, investments, etc.
7- Present a portfolio of business and economic opportunities, with associated return-on-investment (ROI) and return-on-vision (ROV) metrics. This includes the development of Proforma financials.

My Strategic Activities:
1- During initial 90 days, surveyed 10,000 sq. miles of SE OK including all major towns, geographical assets, natural resources, physical assets, etc. to understand opportunities and associated challenges.
2- Hired a strategic economic development team including two Senior Business Analysts (1-legal and 1-finance). Together, we evaluated and advised the Tribal leaders on over 30 different strategic opportunities valued at $28M+ and potentially 100’s of jobs.
3- Developed a comprehensive geographic plan for focused economic development to address 80% of the Tribal land mass with access to good jobs, aka “Gateway Cities Economic Development Strategy.”
4- Developed the “Economic Clustering Strategy” to address the smallest and poorest towns in SE Oklahoma and cluster them together for maximum economic leverage as a unit.
5- Defined a multi-pronged economic development plan that includes the elements listed below:

My Accomplishments:
1- TOURISM – Designed a Tourism strategy and hired the #1 Tourism consultancy in the country to collaborate on a SE Oklahoma-wide Tourism initiative in cooperation with the State of Oklahoma Tourism Dept. and other tribal nations in proximity for Oklahoma regional Native American tourism.

2- AGRICULTURE - Developed a Farm-to-Table, Farm-to-Product agriculture strategy in collaboration with major in-state and out-of-state universities, the OK Dept. of Agriculture, and the USDA. Also, developed an agri-business strategy in partnership with an international agri-business company to address large volume beef cattle production on previously idle land. This included the feasibility of an onsite beef processing plant.

3- RETAIL - Developed the initial business strategy for Travel Plaza (TP) expansion including the leverage of industry leading experts for site selection, demographic and traffic studies, business modeling and forecasting, retail design and architecture, and helped recruit the current TP Executive Director. This effort resulted in immediate and significant EBITDA improvement, and will increasingly yield EBITDA improvements over the next 24 months.

4- ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Established both a physical and virtual Business Incubator/Accelerator model and forged a partnership with the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) and other regional incubators. Co-developed a marketing strategy and supporting new website for evaluating, signing, managing and promoting Native entrepreneurs. Developed and deployed a custom crowd funding (aka Tribal Funding) system to feature and assist in funding start-up companies. Also, hired a diverse team of four experienced entrepreneurs to manage the new Business Development Center.

5- ARTREPRENEURSHIP – Negotiated a strategic alliance with the company that developed a world class program for artisans for Omni International Hotels. This program is designed to teach artisans of all disciplines how to be successful as business persons and maximize their revenue and profits. This program also provides extraordinary market access for artisans leading to significantly increased exposure, sales and profits.

6- PROMISE ZONE – Developed the Federal Promise Zone strategy & co-developed the formal application. Managed the program launch after award as the only Native American Tribe in the country with this designation. Managed 26 Federal Government relationships along with 39 regional partners in SE OK. The Promise Zone is a 10 year designation that will ultimately yield millions of dollars of Federal and private monies for the tribe.

7- NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Initiated and negotiated a $5M real estate investment with a major military 501(c)(3) organization for a new National H.Q. near Durant, OK.
Initiated and negotiated a $10M real estate investment and partnership with a major real estate developer in Texas and Canada.
Initiated and negotiated an $8.5M agri-business joint-venture and partnership with a major international agri-business company.
Developed and implemented a new program to contact and engage the Native adult diaspora (across the USA) with business activities in SE OK.
Evaluated 28 additional potential business ventures and reported their potential ROI and ROV.
Evaluated several retail franchise opportunities in concert with the International Franchise Association.
Evaluated, along with a global consulting group out of the University of Oklahoma and La Fabricca Del Sole (Azzurro, Italy), several strategic opportunities in Renewable Energy including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass.

8- LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT – Organized, coordinated and co-trained 20 promising young leaders using a Leadership Development program for emerging nations developed by CultureROI (CA). This program has been used very effectively with overseas tribal nations for many years.

9- FUNDING and TAX ADVANTAGES - Researched and evaluated various funding sources, tax advantages and other options for Tribal Nations including:

EB5 Foreign Immigrant Investor Funding
New Market Tax Credits (NMTC)
Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI)
Indian Employment Credit
Indian Incentive Program (DoD administered)
Tribal Economic Development Bonds
Accelerated Depreciation Opportunities
Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone)
8(a) Small Business Benefits
Free Trade Zone establishment
Preferred SBA Loans

10- STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS – located, researched and forged strategic relationships with nationally recognized experts in the following disciplines:

Cultural tourism and historical site recovery/preservation
Highway retail, including travel plaza’s, truck stops, C-stores, shopping centers and restaurants
Agri-Business, including ranching, farming, greenhouses, hydro/aquaponics, farm-to-table, agri-tourism
LEED building, including wind, solar, geo-thermal, rain collection, power management, etc.
Real estate investing and development, including a real estate hedge against Gaming decline
Franchise development and management via International Franchise Association
Business incubation and acceleration via NBIA membership
EB5 leverage through a fast track fund advancement program
Leadership development training, coaching and mentoring
National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development Resource Council leadership and multiple speaking engagements
Intertribal Agriculture Council membership and leadership
State of Oklahoma Department of Commerce & Department of Tourism