Turn Key Business Development A 2008 Small, Minority Producer Grant Application

Operational strategies will be implemented and adapted by each of the Cooperatives Member Tribe during 8 three day regional trainings and one national two day training to fit each ITBC M

PROJECT TITLE:

TURN KEY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

A 2008 Small, Minority Producer Grant Application

Submitted by:

INTERTRIBAL BISON COOPERATIVE

2497 WEST CHICAGO STREET

RAPID CITY, SD 57702

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE NUMBER

SF-424 iSF-424a iiSF-424b iiiExecutive Summary 1-2Eligibility Discussion 3-6Work Plan /Budget… …7-11Evaluation Criteria …12-16Attachments………16-30

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY APPLICANT NAME: Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative

PROJECT PERIOD: October 1, 2008 – September 30, 2009

PROJECT TITLE: Turn Key Business Development

Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative is comprised of 57 federally recognized Tribes in a 19 state region These are tribes that commit substantial resources to maintaining bison herds because of their deep belief in the sacred relationship between the bison and Indian people Collectively, ITBC tribes have restored over 20,000 animals

to Tribal lands In order for these Tribal programs to become self-sustaining, Tribes acquired the business tools and understanding necessary to develop and implement long-term business/marketing procedures for their individual operations This grant will provide the Tribe with the needed training and technical assistance necessary to put their businesses into operation

GOAL: Train and give technical assistance to managers of tribal store outlets which will enable them to set up

and operate their stores using a participant approved store outlet business/marketing plan Operational strategies will be implemented and adapted by each of the Cooperatives Member Tribe during 8 three day regional trainings and one national two day training to fit each ITBC Member Tribe’s community for the successful economic development of their bison products, by-products, and other native products that will assist the outlet increase sales of products

Small Minority Producer Grant gives Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) Member Tribes the opportunity to implement major goals of the Bison Program, that of setting up bona fide resale outlets to provide tribal members the opportunity to purchase and have available low cost and healthy native foods Bison will be the primary product provided by local producers as well as other native products such as vegetables and fruit, homemade canned products, craft works, community promotions and educational instruction on the best use of products, health benefits, and strengthening the spirit of the community

Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative will implement this grant which we will name as “Turn Key Business

Development” as a Nineteen (19) state project With nineteen (19) states involving fifty-seven (57) different

member tribes funds from this grant along with Tribal matching funds will allow ITBC to train and give technical assistance to each tribe so they will know how to operate their own stores

Technical assistance will be in the form of instruction on:

• Selection of a store location

• Store layout and traffic flow

• Customer and product delivery accessibility

• Accounting – funds accountability, Cog's

• Inventory control and management

• Employees hiring and management

• Product selection and storage

• Federal and State regulations and guidelines

• Product marketing and promotion

The management team is very important in the successful operation of each outlet ITBC has the Marketing and Accounting expertise to give technical assistance as well as selecting and hiring an Administrative Project Coordinator to accomplish the grant goals.

Technical Assistance will be disseminated at each of eight (8) regional training sessions Training will include Site Selection, HR requirements and hiring employees, Customer Service, Product Selection, Federal and State Regulations and Guidelines, Accounting and Inventory Controls Marketing and Promotions as well as store set up will be accomplished at each store location

It is anticipated that all member tribes (57) will attend regional training with a minimum of 42 tribal store locations

A survey of member tribes indicated that seven (7) tribes per quarter will open a store front under this grant

This project will allow ITBC and Tribes to utilize the prior technical assistance and guidance to actually implement those trainings and begin to reap the rewards of the instruction These new preparations will determine actual materials required, monetary requirements, inventory requirements, skills required, target audience, marketing, management, and promotion of products Providing the technical assistance to the Tribes

on the actual operation of a retail outlet makes for a better understand of the amount of available product, ordering procedures, inventory controls, and management of the outlet This will be done via technical assistance provided at regional meetings and at a final training to take place at the Denver, Colorado in July

2009 Training sessions will provide an opportunity for ITBC member tribes to understand more about the dynamics of marketing, commerce, and retail outlet activities that could potentially promote their respective native raised bison meat and other co-products The formation of new businesses will be the result of these training sessions and members will be trained using a Business plan model on how to operate a comprehensive market outlet The creation of individual tribal bison marketing outlets will not only generate new revenues, be utilized as a management tool, but what will also generated more jobs at the tribal level(s)

ELIGIBILITY DISCUSSION

(i) Applicant Eligibility : The Inter tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) is a Native American Indian Cooperative that began in 1992 The organization is a non profit and is legally registered in the State of Colorado and the ITBC is in good standing Furthermore, the ITBC is registered with the Secretary of State in South Dakota operating as a foreign corporation and it is in good standing as of July 2006 “Certificates of Good Standing” are on file in the office, if requested for review

The ITBC meets the statutory definition of a minority Cooperative in because (1) the board of directors is all Native American Indian, (2) have control of the management of the organization, and (3) share on an equitable basis, the benefits of same The management and control of the ITBC is comprised of duly elected tribal representatives from 57 federally-recognized tribes within

a 19 state region There are 57 board members that comprise the management

The ITBC rules and internal regulations are such that the Cooperative is structured to provide assistance to only tribally-owned bison entities as opposed to private Indian-Owned ranchers and farmers Our technical assistance is a collective effort aimed at providing technical assistance to all tribally-owned herd productions It is true that these tribally-owned bison herds are governed

by the tribal councils or the tribal governing boards These operations are 100% minority-owned

by the tribes

(ii) Use of Funds : The ITBC’ Marketing Department and staff serve as technical advisors to the member tribes The proposed project involves implementing an approved business/marketing plan for its members In the work plan the project period will be a twelve month project and during the twelve months regional training sessions as well as on site store outlet implementation actions will occur For example, the ITBC Cooperative membership is comprised of regions: Great Lakes, Northern Plains, Northwest, Southern Plains, and the Southwest region As illustrated in the work plan, there will be eight training sessions Seven (7) of them will take place at central regional locations as follows and the last training session will take place in Denver, Colorado in July of 2009

 Great Lakes, North Central Plains – One (1) Regional meeting

 Northern Plains – One (1) Regional meetings

 Northwest – One (1) Regional meeting

 Southern Plains- Two (2) Regional meeting

 Southwest – Two (2) Regional meetings

 Denver, Colorado - All Regions meeting

The training sessions will provide an opportunity for ITBC member tribes to understand more about the real world operations of running a retail outlet, marketing and promotions, and retail outlet activities that could potentially promote their native raised bison meat and other co-products The formation of new profit centers will be the result of these training sessions and members will

be trained using a Business Plan model on just how to implement a comprehensive business plan The creation of a retail outlet will not only generate new revenues and utilized management

practices but what will also emerge is how to maintain herd production and develop marketable products so additional revenues are generated, create more jobs and bring communities together through forming partnerships

Project Area: Since ITBC plans on doing these training sessions in clusters, we propose a city in which ITBC will provide advisory and hands-on technical assistance to training participants The cities we propose to hold the training sessions in were not examined to determine if they meet the

rural area test Instead, ITBC determined through an examination of the Census data, each

participant reservation and determined through that methodology if in fact, the reservation communities met the rural area test However, the agency will make the final determine if in fact, these proposed areas meet the rural definition Finally, the reservation participants are considered the “end-users” of the proposed training The proposed project areas are: 1) Great Lakes, 2) Northern Plains, 3) Northwest, 4) Southern Plains, 5) Southwest and 6) Denver, Colorado

Region Participating Reservation

Community(s)

57 member Tribes

Population of participating reservations

County Per Capita

in which the Reservation is located in

State Per Capita in which this reservation resides Great

Lakes 1 Ho Chunk Nation

2 Oneida Tribe

3 Prairie Island

881 21,306 226

16,764 Grant 21,943 Outagamie 21,934 Goodhue 15,858 Chippewa

21,271 WI 21,271 WI 23,198 MN 22,168 MI

Northern

Plains 1 Black feet Nation2 Cheyenne River Sioux

3 Chippewa Cree Tribe

4 Conf Salish & Kootenai Tribe

5 Crow Creek Sioux

15.Rosebud Sioux Tribe

16.Santee Sioux Tribe

17.Sisseton Wahpeton

18.Spirit Lake Sioux

19.Standing Rock Sioux

20.Three Affiliated Tribes

21.Turtle Mountain

22.Winnebago Tribe of NE

23.Yankton Sioux Tribe

10,115 8,475 2,514*

26,172*

2,199 6,878 386 2,956 10,320 1,355 5,155 4,471 5,196 1,912 10,369 906 10,386 4,428 8,241 5,246 8,244 2,601 6,500

11,597 Glacier 7,463 Ziebach 14,935 Hill 15,173 Lake 5,213 Buffalo 10,792 Big Horn 16,541 Moody 12,101 Blaine 11,347 Roosevelt 13,862 Lyman 16,519 Fremont 15,032 Rosebud 10,951 Thurston 13,971 Knox 7,714 Todd 13,971 Knox 13,428 Roberts 11,509 Benson 7,731 Sioux 13,422 Mountrail 10,873 Rolette 10,951 Thurston 11,502 Charles Mix

17,151 MT 17,562 SD 17,151 MT 17,151 MT 17,562 SD 17,151 MT 17,562 SD 17,151 MT 17,151 MT 17,562 SD 19,134 WY 17,151 MT 19,613 NE 19,613 NE 17,562 SD 19,613 NE 17,562 SD 17,769 ND 17,769 ND 17,769 ND 17,769 ND 19,613 NE 17,562 SD

(iv) Grant Period: Grant period proposed will run from October 1, 2008 to September 31, 2009

An illustration of the time frame in which these training sessions will occur and be completed in are best illustrated in the following Table:

Quarter 1 Oct 08

One Session

Business Plan Implementation Great Lakes, North Central

PlainsQuarter 1 Nov 08 – Dec 08

Two Sessions

Business Plan Implementation Southwest

Quarter 2 Jan 09 - Mar 09

Two Sessions Business Plan Implementation Southern Plains

4 Nez Perce Tribe

5 Round Valley Indian Tribe

16,410 Umatilla 15,731 Pend Oreil 22,926 San Diego 18,544 Nez Perce 19,443 Mendocino 17,148 Bannock 15,895 Stevens 13,720 Yukon 15,606 Yakima 26,800 Arlington

20,940 OR 22,973 WA 22,711 CA 17,841 ID 22,711 CA 17,841 ID 22,973 WA 22,660 AK 22,973 WA 28,960 WA

Southern

Plains

1 Caddo Indian Tribe

2 Cheyenne Arapaho Tribe

3 Comanche Indian Tribe

10 Southern Ute Tribe

11 Ute Indian Tribe

661*

11,159 1,712

13,298 Caddo 19,691 Canadian 15,728 Comanche 15,938 Payne 14,478 Ottawa 14,478 Ottawa 18,606 Jackson 15,424 Delaware 14,478 Ottawa 21,534 La Plata 13,571 Uintah

17,646 OK 17,646 OK 17,646 OK 17,646 OK 17,646 OK 17,646 OK 20,506 KS 17,646 OK 17,646 OK 24,049 CO 18,181 UT

Southwest 1 Cochiti Pueblo

2 Jicarrilla Apache Nation

3 Nambe’ O-Ween-Ge Pueblo

4 Picuris Pueblo

5 Pojoaque Pueblo

6 Salt River Pima-Maricopa

7 San Juan Pueblo

8 Sandia Pueblo

9 Taos Pueblo

10 Tesuque Pueblo

1,482 2,742 1,757 1,801 2,712 6,403 6,748 400 4,489 805

19,174 Sandoval 14,263 Rio Arriba 23,594 Sante Fe 16,103 Taos 23,594 Santa Fe 22,251 Maricopa 14,263 Rio Arriba 19,174 Sandoval 16,103 Taos 23,594 Santa Fe

17,261 NM 17,261 NM 17,261 NM 17,261 NM 17,261 NM 20,275 AZ 17,261 NM 17,261 NM 17,261 NM 17,261 NM

Each training session will last three days

• Day one will focus on the Business Plan, Outlet Needs Assessments, Labor Requirements, Regulations and guidelines, Accounting practices and setups

• Day two will focus on outlet facility site locations, safety requirements, job position descriptions, pricing, and Cog's

• Day three will concentrate on Inventory Controls, Records Keeping, Product Selection, Storage, product placement and vender / Independent Contractors and scheduling proposed store opening dates with individual site visits prior to opening

WORK PLAN/BUDGET

The 2008 Small Minority Producers Grant offers Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) the opportunity to implement a Business Plan for a Farmers Market stores which will be setup and put into actual operation before the end of the grant period

Farmers Market stores as developed in the Business Plan will be set up as tribally controlled Independent Market stores with over sight of by ITBC (An organizational flow chart is attached)

• ITBC will be the Regional Director

• Tribal Buffalo Program Managers will be the General Managers

• Store Managers will run daily operations

• Store Employees will conduct the daily activities

ITBC through the Marketing Director (Regional Director) will manage the over all functions of Market stores over seeing: (During initial set up)

• Store physical set up – Shelving, initial product placement, sales promotions, marketing,

number of employees, position descriptions, position standards, and other duties assigned

• Product development, packaging, transportation, storage equipment, inventory levels, Cog's levels for fresh perishables, frozen, and extended shelf life canned products to be sold

• Revenue accountability, operational expenses, Indirect and Direct expenses, Inventory

controls, wages and salaries

• Develop Marketing Campaigns, Sales and Advertising materials,

• Acquisition of store resale products from cooperative members through out the 19 state regions

• Establish pricing and budget goals for each store location

• Establish operational guidelines for the cooperative stores

• Inspect and evaluate each stores operation and profitability

• Meet with GM, Managers, and Community Partners to establish store operations

General Managers will manage operations by over seeing the Store Managers and working as liaison between the Regional Director and the Tribe GM’s will also be responsible for: (On going)

• Establish location of store and operational needs, inventory products to be stocked and

• Stores are maintained, cleaned, and secure

• Daily revenue accountability and controls are being used and money deposited as required in operational guidelines

• Independent Contractors, vender, and Producers are paid and their products are required for the operation of the store

• All operational guidelines are being followed and accountability of inventory and revenue is controlled in accordance to accounting principals

• Establish store hours of operation, holiday hours, employee benefits, position descriptions and duties

Store Managers will manage the daily operations of the store by performing the following: (On going)

• Set up in store Policy of Operations, work schedules, wage and salary rates, daily work

objectives

• Hire and terminate employees are required, train employees to perform their jobs correctly, execute HR, OSHA, FDA, EPA regulations for the safety of employees and customers,

conduct training on a daily bases or when required

• Ensure the store is properly stocked with inventory, ensure items are properly stored,

inventory controls, ordering of products for resale

• Funds accountability, ensure all funds are properly deposited in the bank, issue payment for products, receive payment for purchased items, establish discount pricing for items that will become outdated or no longer stocked for resale

• Enter all data into accounting system, cash and check deposits, cash and credit card sales, inventory counts, daily inventory loses due to spoilage, damage, theft, daily labor costs, items purchased for resale and department they are placed in

• Daily contact with GM on concerns and events that have occurred or are scheduled to occur such as promotions, and sales

• Daily customer service training, store inspections, store maintenance

Store Employees will execute daily directives of the Store Manager and perform the following: (On going)

• Open the store by restocking products, inspecting products for freshness and quality, clean store shelves, walls, floors, outside parking area, and side walks, replace missing or broken lighting, inspect storage areas for correct temperatures, safety, lighting, cleanliness, removing and recording product that is not suitable for resale, check expiration dates, place prices on products, operate cash registers, secure funds as directed, inventory all products as directed

• Serve customers needs, assist customers with purchases

• Participate in promotional events

• Assist in training new employees as required by manager

• Close store after each days operations after clean up required by position descriptions

• Other duties as assigned in Position Description

Community Partners will assist in promotional events as needed and requested as well as assist in community “product” education and with the promotion of the outlet store as a health food outlet Providing only the freshest and healthiest products to it customers on a daily bases

Although some tribes and tribal members have been engaged in the production of buffalo for sale for subsistence and cultural uses, these activities have been conducted by each individual tribe, with little or no collaboration between tribes resulting in little or no profit from sales, inconsistent guidelines, protocols, and approaches within reservations, states, regions, and nationally There is a vital need to centralize this information for networking and to ensure all current data is not only culturally acceptable but has long term economic and ecological benefits

With the number of member Tribes in ITBC increasing annually, the consistent level of limited and insufficient congressional funds ITBC receives are stretched even further This project is designed to address an area that ITBC has seriously lacked funding for

This project will provide a consistent supply of inventory of the bison and aid in a stable economic sustainability The results will be valuable in identifying how we can better assist ITBC members in providing information on economic sustainability and marketing This program will utilize an approved business model that is uniquely Native American We expect to be able to sustain the management of the project through ITBC Marketing Department after the initial year The primary beneficiaries of the proposed project will be the residents of the individual reservations through improved economic growth and sustainability of a resource/product for future generations Secondary beneficiaries are expected to be the ITBC board members as these trainings will not only expand their management capabilities but also job security and expansion through an economically viable business ITBC will be provided with information on current status

of economic sustainability and growth of the bison programs on these reservations, current management needs, and identification of problems concerning protocols, guidelines, and policies

to be put in place

The results will be valuable in identifying how we can better assist ITBC members in providing information on business/marketing plans to create an economically viable program for each member Tribe Process and implementation of the project will be evaluated by the members who participate in the project who will make recommendations to the ITBC Marketing Director (Project Director) to guarantee successful completion of the project

Outcomes will be evaluated in four ways:

1) Number of Outlets set up and in operation

2) Use and implementation of business plan and strategies to incorporated and adapted

by Tribes to fit their own communities

3) Revenue projected and achieved

4) Profitability of each outlet

BUDGET NARRATIVE Personnel

Marketing Director (5% of Salary) $5,000

Marketing Director will spend 25% of his time as overall supervisor of the program and Project Director

Fringe

ITBC has a fringe benefit rate of 14% of salary that includes Social Security, disability,

unemployment, workmen’s compensation, health insurance (vision, dental) and a 403b annuity ITBC has had to provide these benefits to compete for staff

Travel

Participating Project Members & ITBC Staff $107,000

The figures for travel for participants were figured by total number of participants located in that region, for 3 days, per diem was calculated for that area utilizing FSA rates, mileage of 0.505 with estimated mileage from participants reservation to the regional training location, lodging estimates were provided by potential training sites in that area Seven of the participants are in such remote locations that they would need to fly so their airfare and rental car were figured in also Meeting rooms/related expenses are calculated in at $500/day

The figures for travel for participants to the All Regional meeting were calculated by total number

of participants, for 3 days, per diem was calculated for that area utilizing FSA rates, mileage of 0.505 with estimated mileage from participants reservation to the closest airport, lodging estimates were provided by potential training sites in that area at $80/day and an estimation of $500 for each participant for airfare Meeting rooms/related expenses are calculated in at $2000/day

Supplies for trainings $22,400

Supplies would include, paper, pencils etc ITBC’s current accounting software is also designed for inventory controls ITBC would cover any additional supply expense with our own marketing funds

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Rurality: Each tribal producer location has been researched for population, county and state per

capita as evidenced by the below graph which depicts the target population The latest available

US Census 2000 data was used as well as 1999 economic data summary files From all indications,

it appears the “agency will determine if the area meets the rural area definition…” The codified information should support responses for items (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv)

Participating Reservation Community(s) /

Counties

57 member Tribes

Population of participating reservations

Participating Reservation Community(s) / Counties

57 member Tribes

Population of participating reservations Great Lakes Region

1 Ho Chunk Nation – Grant, WI

2 Oneida Tribe – Outagamie, WI

3 Prairie Island – Goodhue, MN

Northwest

1 Conf Tribes of the Umatilla-Umatilla, OR

2 Kalispel Tribe-Pend Oreil, WA

3 Mesa Grand –San Diego, CA

4 Nez Perce Tribe-Nez Perce, ID

5 Round Valley Indian Tribe=Mendocino, CA

1 Black feet Nation – Glacier, MT

2 Cheyenne River Sioux – Ziebach, SD

3 Chippewa Cree Tribe- Hill, MT

4 Conf Salish & Kootenai Tribe-Lake, MT

5 Crow Creek Sioux – Buffalo, SD

6 Crow Tribe – Big Horn, MT

7 Flandreau Santee Sioux- Moody, SD

8 Fort Belknap- Blaine, MT

9 Fort Peck-Roosevelt, MT

10 Lower Brule Sioux-Lyman, SD

11 Northern Arapaho – Fremont, WY

12 Northern Cheyenne – Rosebud, MT

13 Omaha Tribe – Thurston, NE

14 Ponca Tribe – Knox, NE

15 Rosebud Sioux Tribe- Todd, MT

16 Santee Sioux Tribe – Knox, NE

17 Sisseton Wahpeton- Roberts, SD

18 Spirit Lake Sioux-Benson, SD

19 Standing Rock Sioux-Sioux, ND

20 Three Affiliated Tribes-Mountrail, ND

881 21,306 226

2,927 177 75 17,969 175 5,762 2,004 87 31,731 102 10,115 8,475 2,514*

26,172*

2,199 6,878 386 2,956 10,320 1,355 5,155 4,471 5,196 1,912 10,369 906 10,386 4,428 8,241 5,246

Northern Plains (Continued)

5 Pojoaque Pueblo-Santa Fe, NM

6 Salt River Maricopa, AZ

Pima-Maricopa-7 San Juan Pueblo-Rio Arriba, NM

5 Modoc Tribe –Ottawa, OK

6 Prairie Band of Jackson, KS

Potawatomi-7 Seneca-Cayuga –Delaware, OK

8 Shawnee Tribe-Ottawa, OK

9 Southern Ute Tribe-La Plata, CO

10 Ute Indian Tribe-Uintah, UT

8,244 2,601 6,500 26,875 1,482 2,742 1,757 1,801 2,712 6,403 6,748 400 4,489

1,061* 7,258* 5,404* 6,148* 271* 228* 1,191 3,997* 661* 11,159 1,712