By Brian Beach, Reporter Nebraska Public Media
Driving along Highway 77 through Winnebago, you’ll notice a sign on the side of a Dollar General that reads, “In order to do one thing, we have to do everything.”
The background of the sign is filled more than a dozen different business logos, including the Ho-Chunk Construction, Sweetwater Café and WarHorse Casino.
Each of them is part of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development corporation connected with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
Most of the business Ho-Chunk Inc. conducts comes through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program, which provides Native American and other disadvantaged communities with federal contracts.
Founder and CEO Lance Morgan said government contracting opportunities have helped Ho-Chunk Inc. turn Winnebago into a major economic contributor in the region.
“The sum total of it is something I think that we can all take pride in, in the Winnebago community and really the Siouxland area,” he said. “Winnebago used to be a tough community to drive through, and now it’s, it’s really one of the best rural communities in the area.”
Over the last 30 years, Ho-Chunk Inc. has reinvested $44 million dollars back to the tribe through dividends. The number of middle-class households on the reservation has doubled since that time.
Isabel Guzman, who leads the U.S. Small Business Administration, was in attendance for Wednesday’s community celebration.
“Ho-Chunk Inc. is definitely a great model of building a middle class, of creating good paying jobs, of investing in the community,” she said. “As we see this community continue to be lifted up, there’s more work to be done.”
The median income of Native Americans living on the Winnebago Reservation has grown at five times the rate of Nebraska since 1990, but the proportion living in poverty remains three times higher than surrounding areas.
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