The development of a Southern Ute Tribal economic strategy has been underway for the past several months, partially funded by a grant from the US Economic Development Administration. This planning document called the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) has been developed to promote the growth and support of Southern Ute tribal member business opportunities and economic opportunities for the Southern Ute Tribe over the next five years. The planning document is intended to be a blueprint for greater tribal member and tribal business opportunities.
The overall economic development program for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe has been named the Southern Ute Entrepreneur and Economic Development (SEED) Program. The CEDS document contains the initial planning needed to create the framework for developing strategies for economic development, as well as evaluation processes. An Economic Development Panel (EAP) was organized, comprised of representation from a number of Tribal entities and regional economic experts to develop and document the current economic environment for the Tribe and the surrounding region through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Regional expertise in data collection and analyses are providing the background information needed for the plan. The process includes gap analysis, strategy development, action plans, and the creation of tracking measures to determine program success.
The overall plan is to produce an initial draft to be delivered to the Federal Economic Development Administration at the end of July, 2018. That Agency will evaluate this draft and provide comments back to the Economic Advisory Panel for inclusion in the document. The Southern Ute Tribal Council and Tribal Departments will also be provided copies of the draft for their evaluation and input. The draft document will be published for tribal member evaluation and input. Two tribal member public sessions are being planned for August of 2018 to present the draft CEDS and engage in discussion and input from tribal members. The information obtained from all the above sources will be incorporated into the document with a final strategic plan (CEDS) submitted to the Economic Development Administration by September 30, 2018.
For information on the CEDS planning process, please contact David Eppich, Economic Development Manager at deppich@southernute-nsn.gov or (970) 563-2463.
The two tribal member meetings will be held in August. Tribal elders are invited to attend on August 9, 2018 from 6-8 p.m. and the second meeting will be open to all tribal membership on August 23, 2018 from 6-8 p.m., location to be determined. Look for additional details in future Southern Ute Drum editions.