And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: Pat Morris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reservation sets sights on development
BY CHET BROKAW The Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. -- The Oglala Sioux are making plans to create 1,000 jobs, enhance job
training and improve housing and other services on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in the next decade.
The reservation was named an empowerment zone under a federal program in January. The
designation means the area will get some federal tax breaks and at least $2 million a
year for projects in the next 10 years.
Task forces have been set up in each of the reservation's nine districts to help come
up with detailed plans for the economic development effort. A board of directors, with
one representative from each district task force and three members of the tribal
government, will oversee the grants and the projects.
"It's all based on empowering grass-roots people," said Pat Gross of the U.S.
Agriculture Department's Rural Development agency.
The projects planned under the empowerment zone work in conjunction with President
Clinton's program to encourage private investment in impoverished areas, Gross said.
Clinton visited Pine Ridge and other poor areas across the nation in July to urge
private businesses to invest there.
Five goals have been set for the empowerment zone program, Gross said:
Create 1,000 jobs.
Make sure at least 90 percent of the reservation's families live in good housing.
Get at least half of the reservation's families off welfare.
Train a skilled workforce.
Provide basic services to most families.
The program likely will set up an operation to build houses in cooperation with tribal
and federal agencies, Gross said. That would provide employment, job training and
housing, he said.
Private companies must work with government agencies to boost the economy on the Pine
Ridge, he said.
Residents have had trouble starting businesses because few banks made business loans
in the area. Businesses also have avoided locating on reservations because of fears
that their interests would not be protected by tribal law. The new program should help
overcome such problems, Gross said.
Some people already are interested in starting motels or building office space on the
reservation, Gross said.
When he visits Pine Ridge, Gross is struck by the need for services for young people.
About half of the reservation's population is younger than 21.
"I come back distressed about the youth and the lack of opportunity for them," he said.
Many families need better nutrition, public transportation, affordable child care,
telephones and emergency services, Gross said. Many homes don't have running water or
sewer lines, he said.
Shannon County, which makes up a majority of the reservation, has been called the
nation's poorest county. It has the nation's highest percentage of households with
incomes below the poverty level -- about 57 percent.
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