Guest opinions. When I think about the future of our Cherokee Nation, I often talk about unlocking the potential of Cherokee families.
All of my administration’s work and the amazing progress of my predecessors focused on the foundations of future prosperity. The foundation is built on access to health care, food security, educational attainment, and cultural preservation, to name just a few of the nation’s long-standing priorities.
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All of these efforts point to a future where strong, growing Cherokee families have every opportunity to choose their path and forge their own. That is the future our ancestors dreamed of, and we are getting more and more glimpses of it every day.
We recently announced a historic agreement between the Cherokee Nation and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This grants $86 million in federal funding specifically for lending to Cherokee-owned small businesses. The program works with banks to provide loans of up to $5 million to strengthen entrepreneurs’ access to financial capital and encourage private investment in small and medium-sized businesses.
It is difficult to overstate this opportunity and the transformative impact it has on Cherokee families and their communities. The program quadruples the amount of loan capital available to small businesses and is estimated to generate more than $200 million in economic impact across the United States over the next seven years. The heart of the program is one-to-one participatory financing with existing financial institutions. This helps ensure applicants meet standard lending requirements and oversight while expediting approval.
Principal Chuck Hoskin Jr.” loading=”lazy” height=”550″ width=”469″ class=”yf-24rror loader”/>Cherokee communities on the reservation and beyond in 14 counties are using Cherokee-owned land to revitalize local economies, stimulate community development, foster innovation, and create community-based jobs. Depends on business. These businesses are the lifeblood of our community.
According to research from CBInsights, more than a third, or 38%, of startups fail simply because they lack funding or don’t have enough money to begin with. The program protects businesses from those consequences and reduces investment risk for Cherokee-owned businesses and their financial partners.
In September, the Cherokee Nation received the first $26 million of an $86 million fund as part of a 90-day launch period. We just approved the first round of loans to the general public through this program, and we plan to roll out loans more broadly in March and to all Cherokee Nation members nationwide by next summer. is.
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