L to R: Beth Gruber, Dustin Goslin, & Joe Nayquonabe. Photography by John Linn with The Initiative Foundation.
Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures (MLCV) was recently featured in the Initiative Foundation’s quarterly publication – IQ Magazine.
The article highlighted MLCV’s work to build a homegrown economy for the region. During the height of the COVID pandemic, amid the closures of the casinos, MLCV prioritized opportunities like providing support for entrepreneurs, expanding access to childcare, increasing access to internet broadband, planning business incubator spaces, and adding another workforce housing development to its portfolio.
We sat down with Beth Gruber, Dustin Goslin, and Joe Nayquonabe to discuss the importance of these MLCV initiatives.
Q. MLCV has partnered with the Initiative Foundation on the Enterprise Academy, tell us more about our partnership and what it has brought to this community?
Joe: The Initiative Foundation and MLCV became natural partners due to shared goals and interests. Over the years, MLCV has invested time, talent, and resources to build a social and economic foundation for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Initiative Foundation works to strengthen the economy and communities of Central Minnesota. Together, we knew we could be a force for change.
Dustin: When we heard about The Initiative Foundation’s Enterprise Academy in 2019, we knew we had to bring it to the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy for those who were interested in exploring their business ideas. Those interested apply to the Enterprise Academy and when accepted, they learn from business experts to create their own individual business plan.
The Enterprise Academy is open to anyone in the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy. For the Mille Lacs Band community, we are excited to share that since our first cohort in 2019, there have been 24 participants and of those, 22 have been Mille Lacs Band members. We currently have a cohort of 12 participants, 11 of which are Mille Lacs Band members.
Q. What are some of the success stories from this community?
Joe: The Mille Lacs Band community has an entrepreneurial spirit – the Enterprise Academy provides support and training so that Mille Lacs Band members can realize their dream of starting their own business. Kevin and Donna Sutton have an approved business plan to open a campground near Hinckley this summer. Another community member – Baabiitaw (Melissa Boyd) – is developing a business plan to create and publish Ojibwe language books, specifically curriculum for schools. We have graduates who have a desire to open a sober house and start an organic tea business. We have another – Cynthia Guernsey – who is currently operating but wanted to expand a specialty supply store for crafters across the US and Canada, she also creates the plastic button piece in many beadwork pieces.
Q. How does this program encourage entrepreneurism in these past years of unexpected events?
Dustin: In the Academy, navigating economic downturns as an entrepreneur is a big part of the curriculum. Despite the pandemic, businesses are being started at a record-breaking pace. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, before the pandemic started, Minnesota had been averaging around 3,000 new businesses a month. Since January of 2021, the monthly average has been between 4,000 and 6,000 new businesses each month.
Through the work, our cohorts are finding that there are new market opportunities and extra time to innovate a business idea – they can work on customer discovery, competitive research, and follow trends in purchasing habits related to their business idea. Many of our tribal entrepreneurs have social enterprise ideas, where they want to solve a social issue through the lens of business. That framework is new to the small business community, and MLCV is building a capacity to understand more about it, so we are able to provide better resources to our tribal economy community.
Q. What are the steps for Mille Lacs Band members to apply for future cohorts of the Enterprise Academy?
Beth: We encourage all tribal and non-tribal participants to sign up. Interested parties should visit this link to sign up. The next cohort will begin in the Fall of 2022. If you have any questions, you can contact me [Beth Gruber] at bgruber@mlcv.com or 320-532-8810.
Q. MLCV has a new Workforce Housing project in the works called Red Willow Estates. Tell us more about this project.
Dustin: Attracting families to the City of Onamia through affordable housing provides a meaningful lift to local grocery stores, restaurants, auto repair shops, retail, and other businesses. It will also increase the local tax base through sales taxes and property taxes. Most importantly, meeting the affordable housing demand in the area will provide the foundation for future economic development and a vibrant local economy.
Affordable housing is, unfortunately, a topic that’s largely misunderstood. Myths and misconceptions about affordable housing developments are based on fear around negative stereotypes, property values, and the change it brings to neighborhoods—all of which are common arguments in opposition of a new affordable housing community. We are thankful we had support from the city of Onamia and that we invested time early in the planning process to address those misconceptions.
Our work at MLCV is to serve and grow our communities. The housing and labor challenges in the region are too severe to ignore. MLCV made a choice to invest in its communities with affordable housing back in 2018, and as a result are investing in its own long-term health as a company.
Beth: According to our national partners, MLCV is the only tribal organization across the country to build a project that houses tribal and non-tribal tenants. So, these projects are really groundbreaking for a tribal organization to tackle. It demonstrates our commitment to shared-well-being by taking a holistic approach to economic development.
Q. Let’s talk about the Broadband efforts MLCV currently has in place.
Dustin: MLCV and the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy were selected by the Blandin Foundation to participate in the Community Broadband Resources: Accelerate Program. The program provided a 15-week course of study and education about broadband for a community team.
What was abundantly clear from that study is that increasing access and usage of broadband infrastructure in rural areas is necessary. Having a robust broadband infrastructure will not only provide opportunity for online education and job searches, it can also lead to higher property values, increased job population and growth, higher rates of new business formation, and increase the economic base by recruiting new residents who may want to move to rural areas. These residents will contribute to a stronger community.
The ultimate vision with this initiative is for all residents of the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy to be able to use convenient, affordable world-class broadband networks that enable them to thrive in our local communities.
Beth: We often reference the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy, which encompasses the three districts of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, which includes Census tracts 9504, 9505, 7704, 9703, 9701, 9702:
· District I (Neyaashiing) includes the Mille Lacs Band Reservation (Misi-zaaga’iganing) on the west side of Mille Lacs Lake;
· District II includes the communities in Minisinaakwaang (East Lake), Sandy Lake, and Minnewawa near McGregor, as well as the community of Chiminising in Isle on the south side of Mille Lacs, which is District IIa; and
· District III includes the Aazhoomog (Lake Lena) community near the St. Croix River east of Hinckley, as well as a large community of Band members living in Hinckley.
· The Census tracts were selected because they surround the tribe’s key districts, government, and businesses that drive the economics of the region.
According to Minnesota Compass, there are more than 20,000 people that live in the Mille Lacs Tribal Economy who will be supported by the broadband initiative and any subsequent development of robust broadband infrastructure. It’s an important project.
Beth: We are fortunate enough to partner with the Mille Lacs Band on this initiative. The Mille Lacs Band and MLCV have partnered with Brainerd-based telecommunications company CTC to build and own their network. Several capital recruitment rounds have been completed, including an $11.3 million financing proposal to the National Tribal Broadband Grant program. The next step is to complete a feasibility study to understand service gaps, and we have a grant submission in with the Blandin Foundation for those costs.
To read the article published in the IQ Magazine, click here.