Entrepreneurship is a career pathway—and an economic-development strategy.
Locally owned businesses can create jobs, provide needed services, diversify rural and Tribal economies, and keep more economic activity rooted in the community. Colleges can serve as trusted connectors to counseling, training, capital, CDFIs, and new markets.
The opportunity is significant: In 2023, approximately 55,000 American Indian and Alaska Native-owned employer firms generated $70.8 billion in receipts.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/business-owner-characteristics.html
Entrepreneurship and Small-Business Development Overview
Entrepreneurship is both a career pathway and an economic-development strategy. For rural postsecondary institutions and Tribal Colleges and Universities, entrepreneurship creates another way to translate education, technical skills, community knowledge, and regional opportunity into economic activity.
In communities where large employers may be limited, locally owned businesses can create employment, provide needed services, diversify the regional economy, generate household income, and keep more economic activity rooted in the community. Entrepreneurship can also give learners a pathway to transform occupational skills—from construction and healthcare to agriculture, technology, hospitality, professional services, and the arts—into viable businesses.
For Tribal communities, entrepreneurship can also support economic self-determination, community wealth building, and greater local control over economic activity. Individually owned Native businesses, Native CDFIs, Tribal enterprises, and other locally controlled strategies can work together to strengthen a Tribe’s economic base while reflecting Tribal governance, culture, priorities, and sovereignty.
The role of the college does not have to be to provide every entrepreneurship service itself. Instead, a rural college or TCU can become a trusted connector within the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem—helping students and community members move from an idea to counseling, training, capital readiness, financing, procurement opportunities, and business growth.
The Toolkit’s project survey reinforces the need for this approach. Among the 15 entrepreneurship respondents, 11 of whom were TCUs, 11 identified staff capacity as a gap and 9 identified access to capital. Ten institutions offered some advising or mentorship, but only three offered startup funding, and entrepreneur outcome tracking was limited across participating institutions.
Why Entrepreneurship Matters
Entrepreneurship is already a significant part of rural and Native economies.
Rural areas frequently rely more heavily on self-employment than metropolitan areas. USDA research has found that the great majority of counties with the highest levels of self-employment are nonmetropolitan. At the same time, Native-owned businesses represent a significant source of business activity, employment, and revenue.
For rural colleges and TCUs, that means entrepreneurship should not be viewed as an optional extracurricular activity. It can be part of the institution’s broader strategy for workforce development, economic diversification, career pathway development, and community prosperity.
Indicator | What the Data Show |
|---|---|
High-self-employment counties that are non-metro | 702 of 786 |
AIAN-owned employer firms, 2023 | ~55,000 |
Receipts from AIAN-owned employer firms | $70.8 billion |
AIAN-owned nonemployer businesses | ~378,000 |
Receipts from AIAN-owned nonemployer businesses | $15.5 billion |
Toolkit respondents identifying staff capacity as an entrepreneurship gap | 11 of 15 |
Toolkit respondents identifying access to capital as a gap | 9 of 15 |
Tribal Callout
Entrepreneurship and Economic Sovereignty
Entrepreneurship in Tribal communities is not simply about increasing the number of small businesses. It can be part of a broader strategy for the exercise of economic sovereignty and building community prosperity.
A strong Native entrepreneurship ecosystem can help Tribal citizens create businesses, expand local employment, provide goods and services that may otherwise leave the community, participate in government and Tribal procurement, and build assets within Native communities.
Tribal governments can also consider entrepreneurship as a community wealth-building and economic-development investment strategy. Depending on Tribal priorities and governance, investments might include capitalization of Native CDFIs, revolving loan funds, technical assistance, business incubators, procurement programs, shared commercial space, or entrepreneurship education.
These decisions remain the responsibility of each sovereign Tribal Nation and should reflect its own laws, priorities, culture, governance, and long-term economic-development strategy.
Treasury’s CDFI Fund specifically describes its Native Initiatives as supporting job creation, business development, and economic self-determination in Native communities and reports more than $220 million in financial and technical-assistance awards to Native CDFIs through its Native American CDFI Assistance Program.
Source: CDFI Fund
Counseling and Technical Assistance
One of the most valuable services an institution can provide is a clear route to qualified business counseling.
The U.S. Small Business Administration maintains a nationwide network of Resource Partners that provide counseling, training, mentoring, and technical assistance to entrepreneurs.
Key partners include:
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Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) — individualized business advising and training.
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SCORE — mentoring from experienced business professionals.
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Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) — counseling and training with particular expertise supporting women entrepreneurs.
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Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) — entrepreneurship support for veterans, service members, and military families.
The college’s role is not to duplicate these services. Instead, it should establish relationships with the organizations serving its region and develop a warm-referral system.
Recommended Model
College Entrepreneurship Lead → Intake → Appropriate Business Counselor → Capital Readiness → Financing or Procurement Referral → Follow-Up
A stronger institutional partnership could include regular virtual or in-person office hours with an SBDC counselor, Native CDFI representative, WBC advisor, or other qualified partner.
Tribal Callout
Build Native-Specific Counseling Into the Referral Network
TCUs and rural institutions serving Tribal communities should not rely solely on general small-business counseling networks.
The entrepreneurship ecosystem should also include organizations with expertise in Native business development, Tribal governance, land status, federal procurement, and financing in Indian Country.
The SBA Office of Native American Affairs is an important starting point. Its mission is to ensure that American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have full access to SBA entrepreneurial-development, lending, and procurement programs. The office also offers technical assistance in areas including strategic planning, financial analysis, marketing, opportunity development, contracting, and compliance. (Small Business Administration)
Institutions should also identify Native CDFIs, Tribal economic-development offices, Native chambers or business organizations, and other Native-led technical-assistance providers serving their region.
Entrepreneurship Education and SBA Learning
Not every rural institution or TCU has sufficient staff capacity to develop a complete entrepreneurship curriculum internally.
That does not mean entrepreneurship education has to be absent.
Institutions can incorporate MySBA Learning and other partner-developed materials into student and community programming while reserving institutional staff time for advising, applied learning, referrals, and partnership development.
A practical sequence could be:
Learn → Meet with an Advisor → Develop the Business Model → Become Capital-Ready → Secure Financing → Launch or Grow
MySBA Learning can serve as an on-demand foundation for entrepreneurs who need introductory or supplemental instruction.
Resource: MySBA Learning
Tribal Callout
Pair National Content With Local Knowledge
National entrepreneurship curricula are useful, but they should not be the only source of instruction for Native entrepreneurs.
TCUs can add value by pairing general business fundamentals with locally relevant knowledge, including:
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Tribal business licensing and regulatory requirements;
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Tribal taxation where applicable;
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Land and leasing considerations;
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Tribal procurement opportunities;
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Local market conditions;
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Community priorities;
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Native CDFI resources; and
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Tribal entrepreneurship and enterprise examples.
The objective is not to create one universal “Native entrepreneurship model.” Tribal economies, laws, institutions, cultures, and development priorities differ significantly across Nations.
Capital Formation and Capital Readiness
A promising business idea is not automatically a financeable business.
Entrepreneurs often need assistance understanding startup costs, cash flow, financial projections, business credit, debt, equity, and lender expectations before seeking financing.
The emphasis should be capital formation and capital readiness, not simply access to loans.
Institutions can help entrepreneurs:
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Estimate startup and expansion costs;
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Develop business and financial plans;
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Prepare cash-flow projections;
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Understand debt and repayment;
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Strengthen credit readiness;
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Organize financial documentation;
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Compare potential financing sources; and
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Determine how much capital the business can responsibly use.
A key message for the Toolkit is:
Access to capital begins with preparation for capital.
The college does not need to become the lender. Its role is to help entrepreneurs become better prepared and connect them with the right financial partners.
Tribal Callout
Capital Access in Native Communities
Access to capital has long been identified as a barrier to business and economic development in Native communities. Treasury’s CDFI Fund notes that Native communities face heightened barriers to accessing capital and basic financial services and created its Native Initiatives specifically to strengthen Native CDFIs and improve access to credit, capital, and financial services. (CDFI Fund)
This makes capital readiness plus trusted lending relationships especially important for TCUs.
Rather than beginning with the question, “Where can this entrepreneur get a loan?” institutions should ask:
What does this entrepreneur need to become finance-ready, and which lender or CDFI understands the community and type of business being developed?
CDFIs and Native CDFIs
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can be particularly valuable partners in rural and Tribal entrepreneurship ecosystems.
CDFIs are mission-driven financial institutions that expand access to credit and financial services in communities that may not be fully served by conventional markets.
Native CDFIs are particularly relevant because they combine financing with community knowledge, financial education, technical assistance, and locally informed underwriting and lending practices.
Treasury’s Native Initiatives program reports that Native CDFIs support outcomes ranging from small-business creation to affordable housing and broader community development. (CDFI Fund)
Community Wealth-Building Opportunity
For Tribal governments, community foundations, local economic-development organizations, and other community-controlled funds, entrepreneurship can be approached as an economic-development investment strategy.
Potential strategies include investing in:
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Native CDFI loan capital;
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Revolving loan funds;
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Microenterprise funds;
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Loan-loss reserves;
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Technical-assistance funds;
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Incubators and accelerators;
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Shared commercial facilities;
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Entrepreneurship education;
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Procurement assistance; and
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Sector-specific business-development initiatives.
Treasury research also notes that Native organizations increasingly combine federal, private, Tribal, and other sources of capital and that Native-owned businesses, Tribal enterprises, and financial institutions may work together to attract investment for community development. (CDFI Fund)
Tribal Callout
Native CDFIs as Economic Infrastructure
A Native CDFI should be thought of as more than a lender. In many communities, it functions as part of the Tribe’s or region’s economic-development infrastructure.
Native CDFIs can combine:
Capital + Financial Education + Credit Building + Business Counseling + Local Relationships
For a TCU, partnership with a Native CDFI can therefore be more valuable than simply maintaining a list of loan programs.
Potential partnerships could include:
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CDFI office hours on campus;
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Joint entrepreneurship workshops;
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Student referrals;
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Capital-readiness training;
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Credit-building programs;
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Business-plan competitions tied to technical assistance;
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Entrepreneur cohorts; and
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Shared tracking of referrals and outcomes.
Treasury also allows qualifying organizations that primarily serve Native communities to seek technical assistance as Sponsoring Entities working toward creation of a Native CDFI, although establishing a CDFI is a significant institutional undertaking and should not be presented as the default strategy for colleges. (CDFI Fund)
Resources:
U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund Native Initiatives
CDFI Fund Searchable Awards Database
CDFI Coalition State Map
Microloans
For some entrepreneurs, a relatively modest amount of capital can be enough to purchase equipment, inventory, technology, supplies, or other assets required to launch or expand a business.
The SBA Microloan Program provides financing of up to $50,000 through approved nonprofit intermediary lenders.
Rather than simply linking entrepreneurs to the program, institutions should help them understand:
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Whether microloan financing fits the business need;
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What documentation will be required;
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What repayment means for the business’s cash flow;
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Whether the entrepreneur needs additional preparation first; and
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Which local intermediary or CDFI is the appropriate point of contact.
Resource: SBA Microloan Program
Tribal Callout
Map Native and Tribal Capital Before Sending Entrepreneurs Elsewhere
TCUs should begin their capital-resource mapping locally.
Before referring an entrepreneur to a distant financing source, institutions should identify whether the region already has:
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A Native CDFI;
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A Tribal revolving loan fund;
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A Tribal credit program;
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An economic-development corporation;
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Local procurement or enterprise opportunities;
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Community development funds; or
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Native-led business technical-assistance organizations.
The purpose is not to privilege one source of capital over another. It is to make sure Native entrepreneurs are aware of institutions that understand the local context and may already exist to serve their community.
Government Contracting and Procurement
Businesses need customers as well as capital.
For Native entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises, government procurement can represent an important opportunity for business growth.
The SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program offers training, technical assistance, and access to federal contracting opportunities for eligible businesses. Small businesses owned by Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, Community Development Corporations, and Native Hawaiian Organizations may participate when program requirements are met. (Small Business Administration)
Other programs include:
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Women-Owned Small Business certification;
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HUBZone;
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Veteran-owned business programs;
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Federal agency procurement opportunities; and
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State and local government contracting.
Institutions should also connect entrepreneurs to APEX Accelerators, which specialize in helping businesses understand and pursue government contracting.
Tribal Callout
Think Beyond Federal Contracting
For Tribal communities, procurement opportunities may exist at several levels:
Tribal government → Tribal enterprises → Federal government → State/local government → Major regional employers
TCUs can help entrepreneurs understand this broader market.
A construction program graduate, for example, might not only seek employment with an existing contractor. With appropriate business preparation, licensing, capital, and mentoring, that learner could eventually build a firm capable of bidding on Tribal housing, infrastructure, federal, or regional construction projects.
The same logic can apply to information technology, food services, transportation, healthcare support, professional services, hospitality, manufacturing, and other fields.
This is one reason entrepreneurship should be connected to the Toolkit’s labor market analysis and Career Cluster work, rather than treated as a stand-alone business topic.
Tribal Case Study:
Hunkpati Investments and Crow Creek
A useful example comes from the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota, where community partners helped establish Hunkpati Investments, a Native CDFI focused on expanding access to financing and entrepreneurship support.
The initiative combined financing with business-development assistance rather than treating lending as a stand-alone activity. Its work included revolving loan funds, small-business support, financial education, credit-building activity, and entrepreneurship development.
The model illustrates an important principle for the Toolkit:
Entrepreneurship ecosystems become stronger when capital, technical assistance, education, and trusted community relationships are connected.
For a rural college or TCU, the lesson is not that every institution should establish a CDFI. Instead, institutions can become the educational and referral hub that links prospective entrepreneurs to organizations with specialized expertise and capital.
This case is particularly relevant because Treasury research consistently identifies Native CDFIs as a key mechanism for addressing capital barriers and supporting business creation in Native communities. (CDFI Fund)
The Role of Tribal Enterprises
There is a distinction between:
Individual Entrepreneurship — businesses owned by Tribal citizens or other individual entrepreneurs;
and
Tribal Enterprise Development — businesses owned wholly or partly by the Tribal government or a Tribal entity.
They are related but are not interchangeable.
Tribal Callout
Individual Businesses and Tribal Enterprises Can Strengthen One Another
A healthy Tribal economy does not have to choose between Tribal enterprises and individually owned businesses.
Tribal enterprises can serve as:
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Major employers;
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Purchasers of local goods and services;
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Anchor institutions;
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Sources of professional expertise;
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Mentors to emerging firms; and
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Potential customers for Tribal citizen-owned businesses.
Individual entrepreneurs can expand the range of locally available services, create additional employment, diversify the economy, and build household and community assets.
A TCU can help connect these two parts of the ecosystem by facilitating supplier-development programs, procurement education, internships, entrepreneurship training, and relationships between Tribal enterprises and emerging businesses.
This is also an area where Tribal governance and procurement policies matter. It is important for institutions to understand the policies of the Nation they serve rather than assuming the same approach applies across Tribes.
Entrepreneurship as Part of Career Pathway Design
Entrepreneurship should not sit separately from workforce-development strategy.
When a college identifies a priority sector, it should consider both:
Employment pathways and business-creation pathways.
See table below for examples.
For Tribal communities, those pathways should be developed in a manner consistent with Tribal priorities, cultural considerations, sovereignty, land and resource governance, and community-defined economic strategies.
Priority Sector | Employment Pathway | Entrepreneurship Pathway |
|---|---|---|
Construction | Carpenter, electrician, construction manager | Contractor, specialty trade firm, home-repair business |
Healthcare | CNA, medical assistant, community health worker | Home-care service, wellness business, health-support service |
Agriculture/Food | Farm worker, food production technician | Producer, food processor, catering or value-added food business |
IT | Help desk, cybersecurity technician | IT consulting, managed services, digital-services firm |
Hospitality/Tourism | Hotel or visitor-services employee | Guide service, lodging, food business, cultural tourism enterprise |
Manufacturing | Production technician, machinist | Fabrication shop, specialty manufacturer, repair business |
Institutional Lead
Every institution should designate one person or office responsible for coordinating entrepreneurship. Recommended institutional leads include:
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SBDC Director
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Accounting Faculty
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Entrepreneurship Faculty
At a TCU, the lead should also maintain relationships with:
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SBDC Director (if you have one);
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Accounting and Entrepreneurial Faculty;
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Non Credit Departments;
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Tribal economic-development leadership;
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Tribal enterprises;
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Native CDFIs;
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Relevant Tribal departments;
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Native business organizations;
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SBA Office of Native American Affairs; and
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Other organizations identified as priorities by Tribal leadership.
The goal is not for the institutional lead to personally provide every service. The lead should own the network —knowing where entrepreneurs should go and maintaining relationships with those partners.
Institutional Support Partners
Potential partners include:
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Business and entrepreneurship faculty;
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Workforce and economic development;
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Continuing education;
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Career services;
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Grants and institutional advancement;
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Institutional research;
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Student services;
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Tribal economic-development departments;
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Tribal enterprise leadership;
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Tribal planning departments;
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Native CDFIs;
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Tribal revolving loan funds;
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SBDCs;
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SCORE;
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Women’s Business Centers;
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Veterans Business Outreach Centers;
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SBA Office of Native American Affairs;
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APEX Accelerators;
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Workforce boards;
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Chambers and Native business organizations;
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Local banks and credit unions; and
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Community foundations and other mission-oriented investors.
Suggested Institutional Action
Every institution should be able to answer:
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Who leads entrepreneurship at our institution?
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Where do we send entrepreneurs for counseling and training?
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Who helps entrepreneurs become capital-ready?
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Which CDFIs, microlenders, Tribal programs, or other financing sources serve our region?
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How will we track whether entrepreneurs start, finance, grow, and sustain businesses?
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For TCUs: How does our entrepreneurship strategy align with Tribal priorities and economic development goals?
Learning Outcome
By the end of this module, participants will be able to assess their institution’s role within the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem; identify counseling, education, capital, CDFI, microloan, and government-contracting resources; establish an institutional lead and cross-departmental support structure; and develop a referral and partnership strategy that connects learners and community entrepreneurs to the resources needed to start, finance, and grow locally rooted businesses.
Tribal-Specific Learning Outcome
Participants serving Tribal communities will also be able to identify how entrepreneurship, Native CDFIs, Tribal enterprises, procurement, and locally controlled economic-development investment strategies can support Tribal economic self-determination and community-defined priorities while respecting the sovereignty, governance, and economic strategies of individual Tribal Nations.
Entrepreneurship Resource Library
Resource | How Institutions Can Use It |
|---|---|
SBA Resource Partners | Find SBDCs, SCORE, Women�s Business Centers, and Veterans Business Outreach Centers for counseling, mentoring, and business education. |
SBA Office of Native American Affairs | Native-focused business development, technical assistance, lending, procurement, and entrepreneurship resources. |
MySBA Learning | On-demand entrepreneurship education that can complement institutional programming and individual counseling. |
SBA Loans | Overview of SBA-supported small-business financing programs. |
SBA Microloan Program | Small-business loans through approved nonprofit intermediaries, useful for startup and small-scale expansion needs. |
SBA 8(a) Business Development | Business development and federal contracting assistance, including provisions relevant to eligible Tribally owned businesses. |
SBA Certifications | Information on 8(a), WOSB, HUBZone, and other federal small-business certification programs. |
CDFI Fund Native Initiatives | Federal source for Native CDFIs, the Native American CDFI Assistance Program, training, and technical assistance. |
CDFI Fund Searchable Awards Database | Identify CDFI Fund awardees and Native Initiatives recipients by state and program. |
CDFI Coalition State Map | User-friendly starting point for identifying CDFIs by geography. |
Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities | Research on capital barriers, Native CDFIs, entrepreneurship, Tribal legal infrastructure, and strategies for improving financial access. |
Federal Reserve Center for Indian Country Development | Research and applied resources on Native entrepreneurship, Tribal economies, Native CDFIs, access to capital, and economic development. |