Business Leaders Meeting With Tribal Leaders

Elma, WA - What happens when you bring business, industry and education leaders together with area native tribes?

No one knows for sure, but organizers expect that the creative partnerships that will emerge from this first Regional Industry/Tribal Partnering Conference will surprise everyone.

The free conference is from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 24, at the Satsop Business Park in the building located at 100 Technology Way. Check-in and a complimentary continental breakfast will be from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. A free lunch will be served at noon. Pre-registration is required and can be completed online at www.nativeptac.org.  

The Native PTAC (Procurement and Technical Assistance Center) is presenting the conference. Other conference sponsors include The Chehalis Tribe, the Regional Education and Training Center at Satsop, Grays Harbor College and Satsop Business Park.

The conference should offer insight and information in areas such as international tourism, leveraging non-profit grants, tax benefits on reservations for non-native companies, joint tribal training, native advantages, import/export to reservations and the import/export Free Trade Agreement, Hamilton said.

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            In addition to the conference sponsors, others signed up to attend include representatives from the Quinault Indian Nation, several Alaska-based Native Corporations, the U.S. Navy, Starbucks, area building contractors, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the State Office of Minority and Women Enterprises and the State Department of Revenue’s liaison to tribal governments.

            “We are pleased to host the First Annual Tribal Partnering Conference here at the Park,” said Tami Garrow, CEO of Satsop Business Park. “We are always looking for ways to work with our tribal partners to grow jobs and investment for our region.

            “Tribes bring unique skills and assets to the table,” she said. “They are key players in our efforts to improve the local economy and can do much to encourage business development. I really value their involvement and look forward to the conversations,” Garrow said.

            “We welcome local business people who are interested to attend,” Hamilton said. “We really can’t say specifically what’s going to happen as a result since this is the first time we have put on the conference. Our hope is that it will be a success and we can make it an annual event.”

            For more information, call (206) 816-6596 or e-mail abby@nativeptac.org.

Satsop Business Park is a 1,700-acre mixed-use business and technology park located in scenic Grays Harbor County in Southwest Washington just 30 minutes from Olympia and the I-5 corridor. It is home to more than 30 businesses, offers 440 acres of developed, pad-ready land and buildings supported by super-sized infrastructure and surrounded by 1,200 acres of sustainable managed forestlands.

The Park is managed by the Grays Harbor Public Development Authority, a public corporation whose mission is to bring new jobs and investment to the region. More information on Satsop Business Park can be found at www.Satsop.com.