Native entrepreneurs bring jobs and inspiration to their communities

The number of businesses owned by Native entrepreneurs and tribal governments is growing — and they’re becoming more diverse.

Casinos are still a vital source of revenue and jobs for many tribes in Minnesota, but a range of other small businesses are also creating economic development in indigenous communities.

Coming up at 9 a.m. on Monday, MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two Native business owners featured in the new MPR News series “Beyond the Bet,” exploring the diversification of Native entrepreneurship.

And, we want to hear from you.

What questions do you have about doing business with Minnesota’s 11 federally recognized Native American tribal nations and communities? If you’re part of a Native community and run a business, what have been your biggest challenges and successes?

Call us during the 9 a.m. hour at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828. 

Guests:

• Robert Blake is the founder and CEO of the solar installation business Solar Bear. He is also founder and executive director of Native Sun Community Power Development, a nonprofit organization that is building out an electric vehicle charging network on tribal lands and promoting clean energy through education and workforce training. He lives in St. Paul and is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe people in northern Minnesota.

• Madonna Peltier-Yawakie is co-founder and president of Turtle Island Communications, Inc. based in Brooklyn Park, Minn. The company provides engineering and technical consulting services to tribes, states and federal agencies to expand broadband internet service in reservation communities. She is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota.

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