Tribal Consulting

Tribes and pueblos are often situated in settings of remarkable scenic beauty, history, and cultural relevance.   Within careful considerations of a nation’s cultural values and sensibilities, there are opportunities for offering adventure recreation and cultural experiences as part of an overall economic development program.

Our work with client c-store/fuel station projects includes feasibility and design-construction management of particular facilities, as well as strategic planning matters related to such facilities in a master-planned community or portfolio setting.   We are also involved with the selection of wholesale fuel suppliers and contract agreements related to convenience store gas stations.

Providing sufficient housing for tribal members typically involves considerations of financing, affordability, aging in place, and associated health care services.  With many tribal nations there are also diaspora considerations.

Our work with clients involved with senior facilities includes most of the venues included in integrated “continuum of care” communities, including independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, and hospital care facilities.   We have an internal product development initiative exploring wellness and placemaking factors in design and operation.

We work with tribal gaming enterprises on matters related to casino operations, ancillary operations such as hotels and entertainment, and the planning for new and expanded gaming facilities.   For operating matters we typically include a 3rd-party tribal casino specialist to augment our own expertise.

Under a provision created by Congress in the 1980’s to the Small Business Act of 1958, tribal corporations certified under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act may contract with the federal government without a cap on the amount of a sole-source contract.  Such Tribal SBA 8(a) enterprises can be a significant business opportunities many tribes and pueblos.

Our work has included regional and community shopping malls, as well as neighborhood, grocery-anchored, big box power centers, lifestyle centers, and urban entertainment venues.    We are involved with retail centers in unique settings, including mixed-use, redeveloped, and repurposed facilities.

In this era, the focus of our client work has been in exploring new roles for retail assets, effectively moving the traditional shopping mall ever closer to its destiny as part of everyone’s “location-based entertainment” definition.     Some repurposing is possible with simple re-tenanting tactics while other situations require retrofitting and redevelopment (regeneration).  For more information about StoneCreek Partners and our work in the retail industry, click below.

From destination resorts, to landmark city hotels, to highway budget and economy properties, our client work has included the array of lodging product types.   Recently, as Tribal Consultants we have taken on client projects involving glamping and other unique stay accommodations.

StoneCreek Partners, in its SCP Tribal Consultants capacity, has extensive experience in supporting tribal nation economic and strategic planning, including follow-on implementation.   Our work in this area is part of similar work and experience with non-tribal private and public sector clients.

The CEDS (“Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy”) process and document are conducted and prepared under the auspices of the U.S. Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as Amended (hereinafter, the “PWEDA”).   Over the years, amendments to the PWEDA Include those made with the Economic Development Administration (“EDA”) Reauthorization Act of 2004.   CEDS documents are intended by the EDA to be a key part in establishing and maintaining a robust economic portfolio by helping to build economic capacity and provide a vehicle for a diverse community of individuals, leaders and enterprises to engage in meaningful conversation and about what efforts would best serve local economic development.

As part of our ongoing economic and strategic planning work with sovereign tribal nations, we track enterprises and initiatives.  Our database of this tracking is primarily the enterprises and investments of Native American, Native Alaskan, and Canadian First Nation tribes.  Increasingly we are researching such programs of additional tribal communities in select global regions   Sometimes drawing ideas and best practices from other communities, can be helpful in the planning process.

Much of our work includes interaction with tribal (and pueblo) leadership, key stakeholders, and community members.   This includes facilitation or participation in meetings, workshops, visioning sessions, and the like.   We bring unique meeting tools and processes to these interactions, to help propel sessions and build consensus.

Project Feasibility evaluation is a founding heritage of StoneCreek Partners and accordingly, SCP Tribal Consultants.   We follow our feasibility and due diligence work with tribal organizations, to help with financing and grant provider underwriting.   Our feasibility experience spans the asset classes and product types noted to the left of this page.

Tribal nations are increasingly involved with the acquisition of new land and property to be placed in trust.  Some tribal enterprises are involved in commercial and industrial development on non-trust land.   We support such transactions with the detailed due diligence review all of all pertinent property information, documents, agreements, and the like.

We work with grant writers in preparing responses to grant opportunities.  This can include feasibility information, previsualized design illustrations, and conceptual cost estimates.  This can involve prospective facilities, projects, and even operated tribal programs.  To help our clients with the pursuit of grants, we also collaborate with grant writers in maintaining an updated database of available grants and other funding available from U.S. government departments and state agencies.

Our client work over the years has included facility operations and asset management.  This has included recreation facilities, hotels and resorts, office buildings, marinas, and the like.   This hands-on experience provides us a helpful background for providing performance audits and analysis for facilities and projects.