Choctaw Health Center and Choctaw Construction Group [11.4.09]

I am proud to report that our Choctaw Health Center has regained full accreditation. The Joint Commission restored this status after their most recent inspection. This was a hard and very important fight.

After years of neglect, our Health Center’s infrastructure had deteriorated to a point that was unsatisfactory. To restore our status with the Commission required making some tough choices but they have paid off, not only in the restoration of accreditation, but with the renewed ability of Tribal members to trust that they are receiving quality care.

There are still many challenges we face in this area but I am confident we will overcome them just as we have this one.

Much of the credit for winning this battle goes to Josh Breedlove. I asked Josh to handle the situation in May and he rose to the occasion. Yakoki, Josh. Read about the great job he did on the accreditation and the Health Center’s budget in this issue on pages one and five.

Josh will also serve as President of the Board of Directors of our Tribe’s new holding company, Choctaw Construction Group. Tough economic times and tight budgets have forced us to examine every expenditure, not only in Tribal government, but at our enterprises as well.

This holding company structure is being created to merge our 8(a) companies under one corporate board. It will make our operations more efficient and allow for greater oversight.

The board will be made up of Tribal members with the talent, skills and education to move our 8(a) companies forward to a new level for the benefit of the Tribe and all Tribal members.

This effort is similar to the ongoing re-organization of Tribal government and the stream lining of operations at Pearl River Resort. For too long we trusted that good economic times like those in the 90s would go on forever.

The re-organization of government and enterprises creates leaner more efficient operations that will better endure hard times, now and in the future, and be more profitable. I encourage you to do the same in your personal finances and household budgets.

Tribal Entrepreneurship and the Tribal Government Budget [11.4.09]

I want to congratulate my friend, Kenny Tubby, who was recently honored by the Mississippi Minority Business Alliance. Kenny and his company, Choctaw-Kaul Distribution, are good examples of the type of entrepreneurial spirit that our Tribe must foster and embrace.

Kenny has found a specialized niche in the country’s business community which has served him well and made us proud. I was pleased to join Kenny when he accepted this honor to add to a growing list of awards won through his innovation and dedication to customer satisfaction.

His company’s diversified product line is a good example of a business strategy that has been successful in these tough economic times. And while we must continue to diversify our Tribal economy, it is equally important that we are conservative when creating our government budget.

Our budgets are based on revenue projections. Even the most sophisticated financial analysts are never 100 percent correct when making these predictions. That is why I insist that, when budgeting for programs and services for a new fiscal year, our projections are conservative. While we are hopeful that the country will soon begin to climb out of this recession, we should be prepared for the possibility that the recovery may take longer than we’d like.

We are a Tribe that generates a large percentage of its revenues from gambling. One thing we can never gamble with is our financial future. I will always insist that we prepare for the worst and hope for the best when it comes to our Tribal economy and conservative revenue projections and budgeting are an important part of that philosophy.

SNAPAC in California [11.4.09]

Brenda Stephens and Roseanna Thompson represented Choctaw at a recruiting meeting for the Sovereign Nations Alliance Political Action Committee (SNAPAC). The meeting took place at the National Congress of American Indians conference in Palm Springs, California. Representatives from over twenty tribes attended and learned about our effort to unify Indian Country and coordinate its political activities at the federal level.

If Native Americans are going to be heard in the halls of Congress, we will have to speak with one voice. SNAPAC will focus our resources where they can have the most impact.

We hope to add several members to the organization as the result of the Palm Springs meeting and grow the PAC steadily over the next few years. Chairman Marshall McKay of the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians spoke at the event and endorsed SNAPAC. He will be a valuable addition to the team and should be able to help with our outreach to Tribes on the west coast.