CSKT entrepreniual workshop postponed

The Confederated Salish and Kooteani Tribes kicked off a series gatherings in August desinged to hear residents ideas, desires and wishes on the best way to guide the area’s small business sector. Thursday’s planned business outreach and roundtable discussion scheduled for Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Arlee Tribal Community Center, the third in the series, will be cancelled and rescheduled due to a death in the community. The meeting has been rescheduled for Sept. 10, again at 6:30 p.m. at the Arlee Tribal Community Center.


Here's a Aug. 27 story we ran about the
This initiative recognizes that small business is important. This is an outreach effort designed to work with existing and potential tribal entrepreneurs, a CSKT press release said.
The CSKT Economic Development Office and the Salish Kootenai Holding Company will co-host the seminars to facilitate interaction with the membership and gauge entrepreneurial interests.The first gathering took place in Elmoo.
CKST’s Jerry Lamb helped plan the sessions, below he answers several question about the gatherings.
How did the idea for these seminars come about? Have you seen an increased need from tribal entrepreneurs to discuss this topic lately?
Theidea for the dialogue (this is intended to be a dialogue, not really "seminars" or a classroom type of setting) came about from discussions that Velda Shelby, a CSKT tribal member and a successful business woman, and I had. We then pulled in Steve Clairmont of S and K Holding since they have provided some of these services in the past. We approached CSKT Tribal Council, and they are very supportive of this effort which we all intend to be able to assist CSKT members who may need some help in becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Can you explain what each seminar will involve?
Again, seminar is not really an accurate description. Each session will include an introduction from myself, explaining how the process to-date has evolved - namely that CSKT Tribal Council, myself, Velda, and Steve all recognize that a healthy and vibrant economy needs to have a strong small business sector. There are many challenges to becoming a successful entrepreneur, such as access to capital, putting together strong business plan: How do I market my product or service? How do I structure my business legally/formally? What about taxes? How do I put together a strong loan application, etc, etc. We have ideas to share, BUT we want to hear specifically ideas from people on how we can all work together. Hence, a dialogue session as opposed to a seminar. We are stressing that this needs to be a positive two-way dialogue in order for things to be successful. We are not out to preach or tell anyone what is good for them, we want a positive two-way dialogue.
What are you specifically hoping to gain from the seminars?
We want a positive dialogue, one where we can come up with solutions and help, together. We want to assist the entrepreneur or prospective entrepreneur, we want to discuss ways in which we can do that together. If this is a positive experience then we are hopeful that good things can come from it, if it is not, then it will be a missed opportunity.
What will be 'done' with the information gathered?
After the three dialogue sessions, we want to culminate this effort in a one day summit, where we hope to bring together resources so that entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs will be able to see what help might be available, and also be able to apply with the appropriate people right there on the spot. So, in effect, a summit which describes what is available, how do I go about the process, and let's get started right now. In addition, we envision a guide book which will contain pertinent information on business start-up, resources available, pertinent rules and regulations, etc. We also want to provide a web presence with similar information.
Closing
Again, this whole effort aims to recognize the fact that a small business sector is vital, we recognize that it is not easy, and how can we all work together to realize common hopes, dreams, and goals. Native Americans have a long history of entrepreneurship, well before the days of Columbus. In fact , President Thomas Jefferson, in his orders to Lewis and Clark, had them report on the economies of the tribes that the expedition encountered, because he (Jefferson) was well aware of the vibrant economies and entrepreneurial spirit of the tribes. This effort hopes to stress the importance of Indian entrepreneurship. CSKT Tribal Council has been very supportive and helpful of this effort.