Entrepreneur published an interview today with Gary and Carmen Davis about their latest venture, Native Business™. The article offers a snapshot of economic development across Indian Country, while honing in on the many ways that their multimedia/networking company will drive conversation about expanding business and entrepreneurship.
“In addition to Alaska Native and Village corporations, there are now 573 federally recognized tribes,” Gary Davis told Entrepreneur. “Each of these sovereign nations, as well as each Alaska Native corporation, has their own protocols and ways of conducting business. Given that tribes and Alaska Native corporations generate millions of dollars’ worth of economic impact and provide thousands of jobs in their surrounding communities, there are many companies nationwide that seek to do business with them.”
The husband-wife entrepreneurial team emphasized the ways that Native Business will build bridges between tribes and outside opportunity. “Creating partnerships and expanding investor relations is imperative to growing the economy of Indian Country,” Gary said.
Native Business provides tools, resources, attention, and insights to empower business and entrepreneurship via various channels—NativeBusinessMag.com, Native Business Magazine, video news, social media, podcasts and events. The inaugural Native Business Summit will take place in Tulsa, Okla. in May. “The event is a big component,” Carmen told Entrepreneur.
The interview with Entrepreneur also touches on Gary and Carmen Davis’ professional backgrounds and collaborations. The pair have persevered as entrepreneurs, successfully launching businesses including Red Vinyl Records, Litefoot Enterprises, Native Style Clothing and Davis Strategy Group, with a “where-there’s-a will-there’s-a-way sort of mentality,” Gary said.
That mindset is embedded in indigenous culture. Gary pointed to historic examples of entrepreneurship in Indian Country, such as Cahokia, the ancient trading center near modern-day St. Louis, Missouri, and, Tenochtitlán in present-day Mexico City. “These are places where people went to work and engaged in trade on a daily basis. And they were thriving communities,” he told Entrepreneur.
Native Business revives and empowers that same sense of self-sufficiency and self-determination.
Read the full interview at Entrepreneur.
