2005 Annual Report Executive Summary
Northwoods NiiJii Enterprise Community
Northwoods NiiJii Enterprise Community, Inc. (NNEC) is a unique partnership among three Native American Tribes and eight municipal partners in rural northern Wisconsin. Encompassing only 335,000 square acres of primarily forest reservation land, the population of 6,320 individuals struggle to achieve personal success utilizing some of the lowest levels of income in the Nation. At the outset of the Strategic Plan, median family income averaged from six to eleven thousand annually, depending on the reservation examined. Yet, these communities have a big vision… to build sustainable communities by empowering citizens to foster partnerships and mobilize resources for the elimination of poverty for future generations.
LEVERAGED FUNDING: Using a comprehensive community-based strategic planning process, NiiJii developed 74 community projects with a total budget of $92 million. $65 million has already been raised since project implementation began seven years ago, bringing these communities 70% of the way toward funding their ten-year strategic plan. An additional $24 million in community development financing has been applied for and has been declined or is currently awaiting determination of funding.
Over the life of the project, $1 million in Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Program (EZ/EC) seed funds has been leveraged to $65 million in direct project funding and $8 million in in-kind resources, proving a leveraging ratio of 78:1. Of funding received, approximately 68% comes from federal sources, 9% from state and local governments, 11% from the private sector and 9% from Tribal governments. Efforts continue to expand private sector participation in the initiative.
In 2005, NiiJii staff submitted 12 grants totaling $1.6 million in funding requests of which $1.1 million were funded. The success ratio for grant awards is 3:1. Over the life of the project, efforts focused on raising skill in grantsmanship and building local capacity have yielded good results in terms of leveraged dollars.
BUILDING CAPACITY: In 2005, NNEC recruited 438 new partners to participate in development efforts, including stakeholders, technical assistants, agencies and organizations, bringing the total number of partners to 843. Nearly 100 community members are engaged in leadership roles in the implementation of projects. Partnership coordination and community involvement remain cornerstones to the success of the NNEC efforts. In 2005, 489 community members volunteered to assist with projects and events. Continued community involvement is vital to securing relevance in development efforts and a prerequisite for implementing the community empowerment process, which leads to sustainable growth.
IMPACT: While many community members/clients served by the initiative are not aware of NNEC’s involvement to seed or launch project initiatives, the majority of this small population is benefiting from NNEC efforts; as users of public infrastructure, buildings and playgroups, as recipients of business education, support or finance, as residents living in environmentally pristine areas, in improved housing with ownership options, as participants in community events, as college students or through support for their students’ education and elders’ services. Project to date: NiiJii initiatives have served 5367 families and 4823 clients, representing approximately 75% of the EC population.
In 2005, 547 jobs were either created or retained. Over the life of the project, 1,420 jobs have been created and 431 saved with an additional 327 youth and 10 college graduates placed in jobs. While many of these are related to project construction activities, and are not generally considered long-term jobs, they are an important source of income to Native families. For perspective on the impact of job creation, it is worthy to note that the number of new jobs created represents 86% of the 2149 member population of EC residents in the workforce.
STRATEGY: The NiiJii Communities defined 10 strategies in their long-term plan for sustainable development. NiiJii is assisting communities with strategies and projects that
1. Develop an entrepreneurial culture that leads to the foundation of an increasing number of individually and tribally owned businesses,
2. Develop mechanisms to diversify the economies now present in the EC,
3. Improve multi-community relations,
4. Improve infrastructure so that future business and social development can occur in a manner that meets the needs of people for jobs, shelter, and long-term security.
5. Enhance the tourism economies now present in the EC by developing eco-tourism attractions designed to strengthen the primary tourism season in the communities and lengthen secondary seasons, and expanding the current tourism audience both nationally and internationally,
6. Improve educational performance of current and future students, pre-school through Grade 12 and build a strong post-secondary/job training capability,
7. Position the EC communities to take advantage of the Information Technologies revolution,
8. Are not only environmentally sound in their applications, but that also protect the unique and valuable eco-systems,
9. Meet critical social and housing needs, and
10. That follows a value-added economic development strategy.
And the best is yet to come. Many more exciting projects are just beginning to launch, and will ultimately lead to the fulfillment of the vision of these NiiJii communities…the alleviation of poverty for future generations. NiiJii means good friends in the Ojibwa language and aspires to be the essence of combating poverty through partnership.
Northwoods NiiJii EC Summary Page Northwoods NiiJii EC Funding Page