MESA, AZ – The President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, Chris James, issued the following statement welcoming the new U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. He was confirmed yesterday by a bipartisan 68-31 vote in the Senate:
“The National Center congratulates Ryan Zinke on his confirmation as our nation’s new Secretary of the Interior. We are encouraged by the new Secretary’s lifetime commitment to land we hold dear, and believe he will seek our input on issues that affect our homes, our businesses, and our people. “Even prior to his confirmation, Secretary Zinke has reached out and engaged our native communities and I enjoyed our conversation recently at the National Museum of the American Indian. He has shown a strong commitment to tribes both in his home state of Montana and those across the country when he was a U.S. Congressman, and reiterated this support during his confirmation hearing. “While we will not agree on every issue, we expect that the Secretary will seek out and listen to the voices and perspectives of our communities. Whether it’s access to capital, business development, or energy and mineral resource management, we look forward to an exciting and constructive dialogue with Secretary Zinke and his staff to promote job creation and sustainable tribal economies.”
The next National Center event is the National Reservation Economic Summit (National RES), which is taking place from March 13-16 at the Mirage in Las Vegas. It is Indian Country’s largest economic development gathering. For more information, please visit res.ncaied.org.
About The National Center: The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. With over 40 years of assisting American Indian Tribes and their enterprises with business and economic development – we have evolved into the largest national Indian specific business organization in the nation. Our motto is: “We Mean Business For Indian Country” as we are actively engaged in helping Tribal Nations and Native business people realize their business goals and are dedicated to putting the whole of Indian Country to work to better the lives of American Indian people- both now… and for generations to come.
CONTACT: Lewis Lowe, 202-333-2234 lewisl@strategies360.com
