LDF Construction, a tribally-owned company is building a community based residential facility -- known as Gookomis Endaad (Your Grandmother's House) Healing & Wellness Center -- in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. Photo from Facebook
Tom Still, the president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, visits the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to find out more about the tribe's economic development efforts:
A trip to the Lac du Flambeau Reservation west of Minocqua produces the expected in some ways: a gleaming casino operated by the tribe, a stunning natural setting and mixed evidence of prosperity and poverty. A visitor may also encounter the unexpected in the form of steady economic diversification, a process being fostered by the Lac du Flambeau Business Development Corp. Its work may offer examples for others in Indian Country. Managed by an independent board of directors but wholly owned by the tribal nation, the LDF Business Development Corp. was launched to create profitable enterprises and jobs for tribal members. It was done with the knowledge that gaming revenues may rise or fall over time, and that reliance on the Lake of the Torches Resort Casino alone was not a sustainable business model for the tribe and its 3,600 enrolled members. “We want to diversify. Unfortunately, some tribes have yet to do that,” said Brent McFarland, chief operating officer for the LDF Business Development Corp. and a member of the Wisconsin Economic Development Association’s board of directors.Get the Story:
Tom Still: Wisconsin tribe’s efforts to diversify offer example for Indian Country (The Wisconsin State Journal 7/9)
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