MEETING NOTES Nez Perce Tribe Multi-Program Facility Business Plan Project Project Work Group (PWG) Meeting #2 February 17, 9:30am-12pm PST 1) Welcome 9:30am Discussion of schedule. Will need to call a few folks to see if more can come to the businesses group interview. Will meet with a few other folks. May go to Orofino or Kamiah. 2) Interview Results a) Summary of interviews b) Conclusions and Follow-Up Most of the people interviewed were very supportive and excited about the project. Some highlights: - LEWIS-CLARK STATE COLLEGE LCSC workforce development center is low on classroom space and would be interested in being in Lapwai to provide existing courses. We can train anyone to do anything, anywhere. Very interested in partnering opportunities. Tribe already uses LCSC for workforce training. Tribe pays per hour per class, and can have as many students as needed. Computer classes are the most popular ones and are always full. Also, offer management training. Offer about 50 classes right now in a cooperative venture with LCSC in both soft-skills and more technical topics. Interested in developing some curriculum in green building. Payment is from Tribe. If courses are specific to a particular department, the department pays a pro-rated amount. Need to provide a one-stop place so kids especially can see what the opportunities and potential are, rather than having piecemeal training for employees, as needed. - BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Want to think about one component of this facility as a Skill Center that targets high school age students. Really try to be innovative and forward-thinking. Could you run a few small businesses out of the center grow tomatoes or something like that and then the students can participate in a business, and train people for cottage industry. One idea Tribe has had is to have a co-op for cultural artists, and to use it in part as intervention for youth who are returning from treatment, incarceration, making those connections. Butterfly Club older women would come together and make things and also talk about business ventures. Internet sales are on the rise, so could combine traditional craft with modern technology. A site called www.etsy.com is for artists and artisans to sell their wares. Another model that they want to use in Kamiah is the Community School, where students use it during the day, but then adults, Elders and others can come use the facility in the evenings. The LCSC welding in Kamiah is doing this. Training peers, using skills already in the Tribe, since funding is so tight. We should
contact Dr. Bundy Superintendent of the school district in Kamiah to find out the latest there. They have been focusing on career pathways at K-12. - CULTURAL TOURISM Parks would like to have Nez Perce run the gift shop. Nez Perce 501(c)3 Arts Council exists. Micro-enterprise development program might be helpful technical assistance, micro-lending and training. CEDA has a program like this, but is not necessarily reaching out into the rural communities. Ann McCormick is doing a lot of work in this area were trying to buy an old store (Watson s Store) near NPS to set up some kind of arts and culture center. Need leadership on the community level, rather than waiting for government to bail us out. Also largest steelhead run in the US. - ALTERNATIVE ENERGY - Stimulus package: are there projects coming into the area? Can Title 9 be used to take advantage of this spending for Tribal members? 3) Background Information a) Review background information compiled to date b) Highlights of economic data - Population is declining in size, generally, in the 5 counties. Average income is lower than rest of the state. Population is also aging, making retiree-oriented services more needed. Other economic sectors are on the rise manufacturing, health care, tourism, retail. - Also discussed land use, land regulation. A::B will talk with the City of Lapwai planners about plan for the downtown area. Perception of the reservation is that it is dangerous, people only come there to buy cigarettes. Want to get away from industries that are causing problems. Lapwai is the ghetto need to change the perception of the community. The casino and resort are working on master plan for tourism, growth issues. The tribe is currently hiring an economic development director. Would be good to engage in land use planning so that new businesses, the education facility, new housing will all contribute to the pleasant feeling and the vitality of the community. - Wallawa area that would be a great area for the Tribe to get into tourism industry. Also traditional Tribal lands. 4) Vision & Goals a) Build from background information and interview results b) Articulate a Vision for the facility and its programs c) Identify Goals for the project Words & Phrases for Visioning Overall - All generations youth, Elders, small children, pregnant mothers - Culture when you first come in, have something that identifies us - All types of interests and skills - Dynamic people coming and going and talking and sharing - Enthusiasm
- Not just Tribal members people from the whole region who want to build capabilities and disseminate some of the stereotypes of our people - Technology hub of computers, access, job search, take online classes, research - Library conduct research and staff providing referrals, assistance, digital library - One-stop students support, advising and counseling, everything in one place - Invention in the past, always thinking of how are we going to hunt this, how are we going to build this? Want to continue the tradition of invention. - After-school programming, e.g., language immersion, charter school, education programs for parents/parenting programs - Intervention, vocational rehabilitation activities - Interaction with the high school space for added curriculum Facility Space - Solar energy, natural light, native trees and plants - Part of the landscape - Secure building, especially keeping children safe - Two levels - Glass front for sunlight, facing east for morning sun - Extreme makeover - Small business incubator, so people can be nurtured here and then become independent - Commercial kitchen to teach culinary skills, serving, hospitality, maintenance - Theater or space for productions, meeting, tourist-oriented activities - Multi-media center for production of video and music - Space for doing beadwork, basket Weaving (NW Basket Weavers Association), corn husk weaving - Cultivating our intellectual property storytelling, place-naming, archives, legacy project, mapping, research process - Confidential meeting spaces People - Not just Indian children - Not just those living in poverty or needing subsidy - Montessori an educational facility, not a day care center - Lots of scholarly looking people instructors, professors and professionals from other places - Community people from outside the reservation coming to learn, teach - Distance learning so people don t have to go to Boise - A place to build Tribal self-determination build experts out of our own people, so they can eventually teach - Place for the 70% of Tribal high school graduates who don t go to college - Encourage and empower our people and create a place for them to have opportunities both on the reservation and in the larger world 5) Facility Questions & Spreadsheet Exercise a) What are the goals of the facility? How will it look and feel? b) Who are the primary users for the facility? And, what is the best way to determine their needs? (on-site, off-site) c) What programs and functions will the facility serve?
d) Who needs to be involved in the planning and development of the facility who is needed to create a successful strategic partnership? e) How does this facility relate to other priority community projects and existing facilities? f) What are the options for facility location and which location best serve users? g) Which functions will generate revenue and which will require subsidy? How will the facility as a whole break even and eventually generate income? - Overview of Excel worksheets - Thinking about overall finances, picture the Tribe will want to present to funders, how to budget operational costs, etc. - We can begin to think about the cost and how the facility and its programs will be paid for. A::B will meet with finance director and ED to get a better idea of available monies. 6) Next Steps & Adjournment 12 pm - Overall the project is on schedule (see weekly task matrix). - Website is up and running. New home page photo is used, and others can be replaced and new photos are taken or sent to A::B. Project website url will be: www.nezperceeducationcenter.org - Next week A::B will summarize findings from this week s site visit and share findings with PWG via email. - A::B will update draft background chapter. PWG should give feedback. - A::B will begin market research and interview directors of comparable facilities. - Next meeting of the Project Work Group will be Thursday, March 5 from 10-11:30 in the Pi Ni Waus Conference Room and by teleconference with Ellen and Thea. Terry will set up conference call-in line, or use A::B Meet Me line, if needed (907-743-0720).
Summary of Interviews to date: Partners: Idaho has a strong commitment to vocational education and there are four institutions operating in the area currently that do different and complementary things. There is room in this mix for the project we are working on and it seems that the different institutions are good at working together and want to extend their reach, particularly in the more rural areas. Work with existing programs to launch new sites, e.g. Apprenticeship program, off site courses already developed by LCSC, Economy in transition: Two of the interviews commented that in Idaho people tend to think of a high school diploma as a terminal degree. This is because of the traditional industries that have always operated here, people could finish high school and start working in the timber or ranching industries and earn good wages with no additional training other than what they learned on the job. These industries are changing and waning and Idaho is in the midst of a transition from a resource extraction economy to a manufacturing, value added economy. This is a challenge for this center how to attract students to get the higher skills to attain better jobs and start more businesses. Tourism and retirees: Related services and business opportunities both have room for growth Manufacturing: There is a lot of small scale manufacturing that is going on there is lots of opportunity here one thing that is needed is better marketing and business management. Skills Center that works with students still in high school and teaches vocational and technical skills as part of the high school curriculum. This is a gap in existing services. Funding is tight and limited finding ways to make money at the center will be important a possible example is to have commercial greenhouses where the center teaches specialty horticulture and market gardening but also sells the produce. Another example is the commercial kitchen could we run a restaurant or produce huckleberry jam, rent it out to entrepreneurs? Cottage Industry: There is a growing interest in artisans, crafts people, artists, small scale farmers and other cottage industries. The U of I has a program called Rural Roots that is working with these folks much more could be done to help them develop. This can also be linked to increasing tourism in the area in a way similar to the arts and craft trail around Asheville, NC that links up the small towns and their artists. With Boise to the south and Spokane to the north, there are population centers that could be attracted. Green energy there is a lot of potential in this area for wind energy and solar. Installing that in the facility and then also teaching installation, fabrication and other skills for that industry is a good opportunity. Tim Rubio emphasized creating an out of the box training facility where we try and do things differently.