Challenges to
Development on the
Navajo Nation
What I Did
Intern at Tuba City Regional Business
Development Office
 Serves 16 chapters of Navajo Nation
 Helps facilitate small business development
-Administers small and micro loan program
($500-$250,000)
-Provides technical assistance with local
community planning, business site leasing, and
business site development
-Offers training programs for entrepreneurs

The State of the Navajo Economy
48% unemployment (U.S.: ~6.1%)
 42% below the poverty line (U.S.: 12.5%)
 Median Household Income: $27,389 (U.S.:
$44,473)
 Government and government-related jobs
are the biggest sources of employment on
reservation

Barriers to Development
Infrastructure
 Credit
 Education
 Land status (business site leasing process)

Business-Site Leasing
No private land
 All reservation land is land held in trust by
the U.S. government for the Navajo Nation
 Grazing permits
 Bureaucratic process (next slide)

The Process
What’s Changing
Shonto Chapter has recently been granted
the right to perform their own BSL’s
 First of 110 chapters (long way to go)

My Impressions
There is hope; land ripe for renewable
energy projects and gaming should bring
in revenue (along with obvious downsides)
 Cycle of dependence is difficult to break
 “Change” is a four-letter word in Navajo
 Without private land, it is extremely
difficult to have a vibrant economy
 Economic development vs. preserving
tradition
