Commerce Services
Securing and enhancing the
financial well being of people,
businesses and communities
Family and Community Asset Building
Consumer Asset Building
– Homeownership down payment and closing cost grants
(MAP)
– Long-term self-sufficiency counseling
– Budget counseling
– Credit coaching
– Individual Development Accounts (youth and adults)
– Volunteer Tax Assistance Program
– Financial education workshops – community and employer
based
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Family and Community Asset Building
Entrepreneurial Development
- Capacity building workshops
- Business planning
- Retail incubator
- Household budgeting & credit repair
- Artist incubator (Cherokee Arts Center)
- Artist marketing/sales (Spider Gallery)
- Hands-on business management and ownership
training (Kawi Café)
- www.cherokeebids.org – procurement preference
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Cherokee Nation Economic
Development Trust Authority
• Certified CDFI - 1998
• Affordable financing
– Commercial lending
– Small consumer lending
– Foreclosure prevention
• $6+ Million portfolio
• 800+ Clients
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Commercial Loan Program
5 Year Impact
• Created or retained
635 jobs
• $5.7 million small
business loans
• Capacity building
training over 8,000
participants
Benefits
• Flexible lending
criteria
• Special low-income
micro and youth
programs
• Low cost financing
• In-house loan
servicing
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Small Business Workshops
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Marketing
Government Contracting
8a and HubZone Certifications
Website Design
How to do Business with Cherokee Nation
Understanding Bonds
Analyzing Financials
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Business Planning
• Workshop taught over the course of several
weeks
• Each session focuses on a specific section
of the business plan
• Commerce currently uses both
Indianpreneurship and Core Four
curriculum
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Certified Indian Owned Businesses
• Increase Certified Indianowned Businesses’ access to
CN procurement
opportunities
• Increase competitiveness
and sustainability of
Certified Indian-owned
Businesses
• One-on-one training for
Certified Indian-owned
Businesses
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Business Coaching
• Produces better loan participants
• Establishes a relationship between
Commerce Services and the borrower
• Assesses the individual needs of the small
business owner
• Works with business owners to detect
changes in the economy and their market
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Procurement Assistance
• Aids with Cherokee Nation procurement
opportunities
• Stresses the importance of growing
business and diversifying customer base
• Commerce Services partners with Native
American Business Enterprise Center to
notify vendors of federal and state
procurement opportunities
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Consumer Loan Program
Impact
• Over $3 Million
loaned in the last 4
years
• Continued significant
growth
• Deterioration of credit
histories and debt to
income ratios
Benefits
• Affordable alternative
to high-cost, shortterm financing
• Budget and credit
counseling pre and
post loan
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Community Tourism
Facilitates start-up, expansion, and
sustainability of Indian-owned tourism
businesses, including individualized
assistance and financing
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Community Tourism - Providing
Economic Development Tools
• Cherokee National
Holiday
• Arts on the Avenue
• Cherokee Hills Scenic
Byway
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Cherokee Arts Center
An artist incubator
providing creativity
space and equipment to
help artists generate
income and share their
skills.
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Arts Center Impact
• 50 artists have completed the Native Artist
Professional Development curriculum
• Artists have used the Arts Center to teach 86
classes YTD, ex. silversmithing, pottery,
weaving, life drawings, assemblage, beading
• $16,275 earned by artists holding classes at the
Arts Center YTD
• YTD, Arts Center equipment has been used close
to 500 times in addition to its usage for classes
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Retail Incubator
• Subsidized retail space located in historic
downtown Tahlequah
• Individualized business coaching
• Marketing assistance
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Kawi Cafe
• Hands on
entrepreneurial
training ground
• Business plan
development
• Classroom style
business training
• 8 graduates year to
date
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The Spider Gallery
• Increasing the market for Cherokee artists
• Bringing Cherokee art to the forefront
• Supplementing artists’ income
• $31,700 income to artists YTD
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Self Sufficiency Programs
• Mortgage Assistance
• Personal Financial Education Classes
• Credit Coaching
• Individual Development Accounts
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Mortgage Assistance Program
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Impact
Since 2008, Financial
Assistance provided to 1,200
first time homebuyers
Foreclosure rate of MAP
clients lower than Oklahoma
average
Includes short-term financial
coaching
All recipients obtain nonpredatory mortgages
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Credit Coaching
Long Term Counseling
• One on one financial
analysis
• Spending plan
• Saving plan
• Debt reduction strategies
• Credit repair
• Comprehensive referrals
Impact
• 549 families completed
counseling and obtained
non-predatory mortgages
• None lost to foreclosure
• Credit scores increased an
average of 29 points
• 32% of families reduce
debt to income ratio
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Community Financial Education
• 6,500 participants in last 5 years –
adults and youth
• CNE Gaming Employees – Saving
gaming licenses and jobs
• Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace
University, Homebuyers Training,
Managing a Bank Account,
Developing a Spending Plan,
Negotiating with Creditors,
Managing a Banking Relationship,
Reviewing Your Credit Report
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Individual Development Accounts
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1st Native IDA – 1997
Adult and youth matched savings
Recently incorporated with Mortgage Assistance Program
200+ individuals currently participating
– Home rehabilitation
– Home purchase
– Post secondary education
– Business start up or expansion
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OK Native Assets Coalition
Cherokee Nation was a founding partner of this 501(c)3
organization whose mission is to build and support a
network of Native people dedicated to increasing self
sufficiency through financial education and asset building
programs.
www.oknativeassets.org
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• ONAC represents a consortium of
Oklahoma tribes and partners interested in
establishing asset-building initiatives and
programs in Native communities.
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What ONAC Provides Constituents:
• Asset building resources, models, and strategies
• Annual conference
• Forum to discuss tribal, local, state, or federal asset building
policies
• Opportunities to connect with Native and non-Native asset
building practitioners
• Outreach to OK tribal leaders, tribal governments, and other
OK based Native organizations
• Training and capacity building for designing and implementing
asset building programs
• Mini grants for Native asset building projects
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