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Join The Urban Rez for an exciting journey that dives into the intersections of culture, sports, and lifestyle with a fresh, global, inclusive perspective. Each 30-minute episode brings a unique blend of conversations, stories, and interviews that explore the passions and experiences that define our lives.
Announcer 0:00
This is a KUNV Studios original program.
Wesley Knight 0:04
The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. The
Marcus White 0:14
Urban Res is underwritten by Southwest Gas. Since 1931, Southwest Gas has been committed to serving the communities we live in. Employees actively volunteer for and support organizations and initiatives that make our communities better places to live. For more information, s wgas.com. Welcome to the urban day show. Welcome to the urban day show. Welcome to the urban day show. Welcome to
Music 1:01
the urban day and show.
Marcus White 1:16
And good morning. Welcome to the Urban Res Show. Man, we already are in August, Doctor B. It's been hot here in in Las Vegas, which you know the majority probably the West Coast. Man, it's been really hot. But you know, needless to say, question for you: Tell us what's going on with your organization. What you been up to?
Dr. B 1:39
Speaking of hot. We had some hot things going on with our organization. We were recently connected with the Aces, who honored United Natives for nonprofit of the night, and alongside, we also hosted their first Native American Heritage Game Night.
Marcus White 2:00
Yes,
Dr. B 2:00
and they beat the New York Liberty. So go ASIS!
Marcus White 2:04
Awesome, awesome,
Dr. B 2:05
and yay! And then to add on to that, we also have had our Native American Heritage Gang Night with the Las Vegas Aviators that just happened. So we're really excited about our sports-based initiatives as well. So thank you for asking.
Marcus White 2:25
Yep, yep. And then coming up in a couple months, the MMIR.
Dr. B 2:31
Yes, we will be hosting our third annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Summit here at UNLV. So anyone that's interested, come in. It's held on Thursday, october 15, and we welcome anyone to participate and show up and support. It'll be under our website, United Natives.
Marcus White 2:56
That's awesome. So our guest today is Chris James? He is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and the president and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the nation's leading organization dedicated to advancing Native-owned businesses and strengthening tribal economies. He's a former U.S. Small Business Administration associate administrator and U.S. Treasury official under President Obama, Chris has spent his career creating opportunities for Native entrepreneurs and tribal communities. Under his leadership, the National Center has helped Native businesses secure more than $4 billion in procurement opportunities and expanded programs that support economic growth across Indian Country. He was also a congressional candidate for the Arizona's fifth district this year. Today, Chris continues to champion Native business development and economic opportunity nationwide. So please join me in welcoming Chris James to the Urban Res Show. Welcome, Chris.
Dr. B 4:03
Thank you, Marcus.
Chris James 4:05
Yay! So fun to be on. It was so great listen to you guys. So thank you for having me.
Marcus White 4:12
Absolutely. So, Chris, looking back, how has your background shaped your life's purpose?
Chris James 4:18
Wow, what a great question, Marcus. You know, I, I, so I, I used to say when I was when I first moved to D.C. and that was in 2009. I said 90% of my time I spent growing up on the rez and in my community. So, so I, I, you know, had the framework of our culture and heritage. I'm actually a descendant of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. I'm a very proud descendant. My, you know, my I've had generations of of family growing up there. You know, I've lived I lived right right there. My parents had businesses on the reservation. That that just everything I learned from Cherokee is how I built my career. So you know the you know the the the heritage, the culture, the the importance of of building businesses, all of that I I brought with me on my journey through life.
Marcus White 5:21
Oh, that's wonderful! And so you've led NCAID through a period of tremendous growth. So, looking back, what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment as president and CEO, and why?
Chris James 5:33
You know, I I'm very proud of the work we've done at National Center, and and you know when when we started when I started the organization in 2017, we were a little under a $2 million organization. Now we're over a $10 million organization, and the biggest emphasis that I've always had is how are we supporting the clients we serve, and that means are we are are we providing opportunities for business owners to grow their business? Are we providing opportunities for a native business owner to start a business? Are we helping tribal enterprises expand or get to their next level? And are we helping tribes develop strategic planning so that they can maybe you know build more opportunities for their citizens? So all those things is how I ended building the national center. It wasn't just me alone; it was building the right team, and it was really looking at the national center as holistic, not just one piece. So a lot of people see the national center as, oh, you guys put on rez, and rez is an awesome part of our organization. But rez is just a small part of our organization. The rest of the work we do every day is supporting our tribal community, and that's that's how I actually build, and that's what I'm proud of to make sure that every that was always emphasized through my journey over the past 10 years.
Dr. B 7:08
Hey, Chris, definitely love the work that you're doing throughout Indian Country. I've been such a huge supporter and fan. But for folks who may not know about some of the challenges, like why is it so important that you help to facilitate and support tribal economic development? Because what are some of the barriers and challenges that our community members face as a result of trying to build up this economic development on our nation,
Chris James 7:41
so you know, unfortunately, our communities still are behind from other communities, as we all know. The three of us know on this call. The the you know a lot of that is geographic issues. You know, a lot of our communities are very rural, and when I say very rural, you're talking. I mean, we all know. I mean, we're we're we're miles and miles from urban markets. So a lot of times, just the overall ruralness of the community hinders business growth or business development. So that's one thing. I also think that we've had 600 years of trauma in our communities, and and people have tried to take from our communities forever, and in fact, you know, displace citizens of our communities. So, so rebuilding those communities, even though oftentimes the federal government has given us some tools, and the tribes have developed their own tools to help redevelop their communities economically, it still takes a lot of time. And in my, you know, close to 30-year career, we have seen a lot of growth. We've seen growth in gaming. We've seen growth in in other enterprise opportunities, but it's not always equal. And we have some growth in some communities. We have some growth in others that might be a little slower. That may need a little help, and that's where an organization like mine comes in. is is able to to to help help help help the process, support the process, honor sovereignty through the process, and you know really really improve that those economic conditions in in our communities. The
Marcus White 9:40
urban rez is underwritten by Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is Nevada's largest sports venue, hosting two NASCAR race weekends, along with an NHRA drag race, the largest electronic music festival in North America, the Electric Daisy Carnival, and countless other corporate events annually. And you mentioned a little bit. Go about rez. So, can can you tell us a little bit more about the reservation economic summit? And we know that that that is you know really big here in Las Vegas every year that that you guys have it. So, why is rez important? And then, what makes it such a valuable experience for entrepreneurs, tribal leaders, and corporate partners?
Chris James 10:20
Res is is a lot of times when I think about rez, it is really one of the places where people can gather and talk about ideas, can get excited about about improving their communities or expanding on Business opportunities historically, Rez had about 2000 attendees. It was always a large conference, but last March we always have Rez usually in in late February or March. Last March we had over 5200 attendees. Res is now one of the world's largest, or the world's largest, native-focused economic development conferences. We have attendees from all over the the United States and world, and a lot of times, some of our attendees, they've never been in a room with with 2000 of their native brothers and sisters, so there is that advantage of having this ability to come to Rez and and meet other folks from around the country and and really enjoy being native and enjoy talking through some of the challenges that we all have through our communities, and I think that makes Rez really special. We always focus on the takeaway. You know, I want every attendee to to to come to Rez to leave Rez with the ability to implement something in their business or in their community to to get their business to the next level, or get their community maybe a new project to help support tribal youth. You know, those are all all the the takeaways and ideas that you can get at Res, and that's why people attend. And and it it really, you know, I want people to attend rez, and and just sometimes you may not know why you're there, but when you're there, you find you know find an opportunity, and that's that's what makes it so special.
Dr. B 12:32
And I would just like to add on to that, Chris, because you know I've been attending res for for continuing these past years, and me just as a as a normal participant, just the energy that is surrounded with a lot of other natives that are doing amazing things in the community, and and it's all different types of sectors, right? You have health, you have tech, you have oil and gas, gaming, all all types of disciplines, and you bring them under the one table. Just a fascinating energy. It's also a big reunion. I was honored in 2021 to be selected as one of the 40 of the 40 recipient. Help me make way, so I really appreciate the the award and the honor to have been selected for that. And so, just that for me at the time as a young native person aspiring to be an entrepreneur and in having that type of support network and also being recognized as a young emerging leader helped me gain confidence in my own trajectory. Like, hey, I can do this. You know, I I can you know become an entrepreneur because I I saw it throughout the Res Summit. So I just wanted to state like my personal testimony of how fascinating Rez is, and what you have put together. I know this past year, when I was watching the award show, and I just saw all those names being called of the young persons with the 40 under 40 award, and what they do and their titles, I just thought that was very inspiring, and I wish every native youth could especially see that award ceremony because there's so many amazing, brilliant young talent out there, and I just wanted to to premise that you do an amazing an amazing job, and it gives a lot of us inspiration out there.
Chris James 14:45
Awesome! That's so that's so nice to hear, and and I I have the same feeling too when I when I watch that 40 under 40 award ceremony, and I I look at every year how powerful that class is, you know, it's in. Empowering to me, and it, it, you know, it really gives you that hope for the next generation, and you know, it's very exciting, and and it's a fun event. I mean, it's it's definitely the takeaways that people are able to to get from that is is just you know it's definitely worth the the attendance prize for sure.
Dr. B 15:27
It is, and fun is an understatement. Yes, and
Chris James 15:33
and you know it's partly I think this whole like I love it how you said the it's like a reunion because you you do you know some people you only see at rez and and even I I attended rez for 20 years before I actually you know or now you know 10 years before I started but it is like you see people that you haven't seen maybe in a couple years and you're able to pick up those conversations right away, and it's so that piece of it is so important.
Dr. B 16:06
Yes, I absolutely agree. So we're happy to be in attendance this upcoming year, and then also I just wanted to switch gears a little bit because you said you you know we're affiliated with other departments prior to becoming the CEO of NCAIED. Let's talk about these positions that you have served as both the U.S. Secretary and the U.S. Small Business Administration, and how did these exact experiences shape your leadership style and your vision in working with Native economic development?
Chris James 16:49
Well, when I when I left Cherokee in 2009, I I've I've told this story before, and so some of the listeners might have heard it. But I I I remember I used to work for my parents' restaurant, and it was a pizza restaurant. I I I was work. I would even when I was working for the tribe, I would still work part time at the restaurant. And so I'm standing behind the counter on a Saturday afternoon. A friend of mine came in with this opportunity to go to Washington D.C. and she hands me this opportunity. She's like, Chris, you should you should do this opportunity. And I literally said to her, I said, no no one from Washington D.C. is going to hire a guy like me from Cherokee, North Carolina, to do a big job like that, you know. And it was a job at the U.S. Department of Treasury, and and that was in October, and in January I am moving to Washington D.C. to take the job at the U.S. Department of Treasury. And I was always like, of course, I was qualified. There was no doubt that I was qualified. But what I found out when I got there, I brought a very unique perspective that a lot of people didn't have, and and that is that I actually worked economic development for the tribe. I actually worked on the reservation in a small business, you know, a family business. You know, I had all of those pieces that that were unique to some of those jobs. So that was one thing I brought to the table, and I never would forget that. You know, I would never forget my roots because sometimes when you leave, when you leave home or or leave the community, you get tied up into whatever city. You know, you're you're you're you're part of another community all of a sudden, and you're and so you get tied up into that pace, and especially in the federal government, there's a it's it's a pace. It's fast. So I always remembered my roots. I always remembered what you know that that you know I'm not only bringing my skills to the table, but I'm representing you know tribes all over the country, and I have to bring their perspective and making sure that that that those community members are represented. So every meeting that I attended, I'm representing a whole lot of people. I'm not just representing Chris James from Cherokee, North Carolina, and that was so important to me to always remember, and even often go home and make sure that I get, you know, that I that I get that I remember my roots, you know, and make sure because you know I and so so as I did those jobs and I did the treasury department and then I I I did six years at the Small Business Administration, directly working on initiatives to support our communities. It was always so important to me to remember my roots and making sure I I never forgot where I came from, and I even do that today. I'm going home in a couple of weeks to make sure that I you know that I get back home and talk about to community. Members and be part of of the community, and that's so important. But I was very honored to have those jobs. I was very honored to work for President Obama, and and I I enjoyed I enjoyed it immensely.
Marcus White 20:11
That's that's awesome. Oh my gosh, that's I I remember meeting President Obama when I worked for the U.S. Senate, and the charisma and and the passion that he that he had when he was a U.S. senator, man, and then to so I totally understand exactly the the part of you know that that fire and and it also you know he brought people around him that worked in his cabinet. They brought that same energy that he had, which is great. And so, you've built relationships with Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Google, Nike, IBM, and Lockheed Martin. What advice would you give native-owned businesses that are trying to become suppliers to large corporations,
Chris James 20:58
Marcus? I think you know it's all about connecting, you know, making those connections. We, we, what I would tell a lot of our clients that we work with that are doing, maybe they've started doing government contract. I said, if you can do contract with the federal government, you can do contracts with Lockheed Martin. So, you know, part of the work we do, and and some of my teams do, they help make those connections? In fact, we had a business-to-business matchmaking connection just recently in Canada, where we were bringing some of our U.S. buyers, U.S. companies, to meet with First Nations Canada people, as well as some of our Indigenous Native U.S. businesses to meet with with some of our First Nations businesses. So bringing those businesses together to do bigger projects is is something I would encourage people to think about. Also, a second thing you have to do good work. You have to, you know. So part of that is it's not just when you get a contract, it's not just getting the contract and patting yourself on the back. Getting a contract is just the first step of the process. Doing the work is the most important thing. And when you do the work and you show that you're successful and you show that that you know you're going well above other contractors, then that just opens the other other opportunities and and other projects. So Fortune five 500 companies and and the ones you mentioned, they they award folks on good performance, and I think that's you know when you have a a contractor that's really really doing a great job and really trying to get those, you know, those new opportunities and really putting their whole selves into the contract. I think it's so important to be successful. So go beyond beyond the norm is what I say.
Dr. B 22:53
Well, I I absolutely agree with you. I think one of the hardest parts is the beginning process to anything we do. So for you to help be a facilitator on getting that grandiose first step in implemented, I think that's an amazing piece that you help puzzle together when we're trying to make all these connections. And I know that's truly helpful to our community, to help address some of the challenges that us, the native entrepreneurs, face, I know one of them is access to capital. And alongside of us getting access to capital, what do you believe are some of the opportunities that exist for us to get access to capital as native business owners.
Chris James 23:47
Yeah, that's one of the biggest challenges, and a lot of times you have to have capital to even start your first project. So, so some even if some of the clients what we've worked with, they're like, "Hey, Chris, you know, we just got this contract. It's $10 million, but we got to build up, and we, you know, we're we're sort of limited on capital now. I advise people to look at, you know, access to working capital loans if they have that availability. We also have a nice network throughout Indian Country called Community Development Financial institutions, they they have some availability on more of a local level to help support gaining capital. The national center, I'm I'm excited to to announce this. The national center is about to launch Native Edge Finance, where we'll be providing capital to to our clients and folks that that we work with, so we may have some product for for lending. So we're developing a community development financial institution called Native Edge Finance. We should be up and lending in over the next year. So there's that opportunity for capital. And we can also help, you know, for our clients, we can also help find them other opportunities of capital or investment. So that's something we do as well. But yeah, it's a challenge. I mean, that's one of the hardest. You know, it's it's it's the chicken and the egg sometimes because you can't grow often without the capital to grow, and so if you can't get the capital to grow, sometimes you're just stuck in the same you know in the same phase. So being able to figure out how to how to get that path forward with the capital is very important for entrepreneurs.
Marcus White 25:35
Yeah, that that's absolutely right. I mean, I think that is the the thorn in the side for all you know small businesses is capital. It's it's always has always been that uphill battle. So there have been growing concerns in Indian country surrounding the SBA's eight A business development program, including the situation involving Susanville Indian Rancheria and increased scrutiny of tribal-owned enterprises. How have these issues affected confidence in the 8A program, and what impact are they having on Native enterprises' development and tribal economic growth?
Chris James 26:15
So we can start about the impact right now. The SBA has; they've only over the past year and a half. I think they've only approved one or two new eight eight applications. Normally, they approve, you know, several 100 a year. So they haven't, you know internally they have not been you know they haven't shut down the program but they definitely haven't approved new applications so that's that's one challenge and that's one thing that we're we're advocating on the Hill to get fixed. Number two, they have been really scrutinizing every company, so regardless if it's enterprise, if it's a a tribally owned company, all the way to an individually owned company, the SBA is really digging through every company, looking at and which is it's their right to do, but they're doing it with a lens of like saying everybody that takes advantage of everybody's taking advantage of this program, which is not true. Like in a in a bad way, you know they're always looking at fraud, and and what they have found is very few companies actually have any fraud. I mean, it's like less than 1% So, so but everybody's getting scrutinized. So that's the second barrier that they've thrown up, trying to discourage companies from using the program. So, lastly, I I would encourage tribes, enterprises, as well as as native entrepreneurs, to continue to look at the eight-day business development program because there there there is some roadblocks right now, but there still is opportunity, and and so I still think working working through those opportunities to get into the program because I don't think the program's going to go away anytime soon, even though there's lots of attacks, so the administration can attack, but it has so much support in Congress. I feel like it'll still be opportunities for our businesses.
Marcus White 28:31
Chris, man, we're we're running we just ran out of time, so we got to have you back on next month to to continue this discussion. So everybody, have an awesome Sunday, and we will continue this discussion next month. The urban rez is underwritten by One Well. Protect the spaces where people live, work, and gather with One Well. Our antimicrobial surface treatment helps defend against bacteria, mold, mildew, and odors for up to 180 days with a single application. Safe, non-toxic, and trusted by businesses that value cleaner, healthier environments. Learn more at nivospray.com.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai