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 6,612 individuals struggles to achieve personal success utilizing some of the lowest levels of income in the Nation. At the outset, median family income averaged from six to eleven thousand annually, depending on the reservation. 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:
Through a comprehensive community-based strategic planning process, 74 community development projects have been described with a total budget of $134 million. $114 million has already been raised since project implementation began eight years ago, bringing these communities 85% of the way toward funding their ten-year strategic plan. An additional $52 million in community development financing has been applied for, but has not been awarded or is pending award. In 2006, 34 projects (Benchmarks) were under active implementation or were launched.

Over the life of the project, $1.2 million in Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Program (EZ/EC) seed funds have been used to leverage $114 million in direct project funding and $8.6 million in in-kind resources, proving a leveraging ratio of $100: $1.

Of funding received, approximately 62% comes from federal sources, 5% from state and local governments, 1% from non-native local and regional governments, 17% from the private sector and 15% from Tribal governments. Efforts are being made to expand private sector participation in the initiative.

In 2006, NNEC was awarded $1.5 million in other funding requests. Since inception, NNEC staff has submitted 116 grants awarding $12.4 million in funds to Enterprise Community Projects.

FINANCIAL REPORT
Per the A-133 Federal Compliance audit which showed no significant finding, for the fiscal year ending December 2005, total expenses were $584,700. Of this 84% ($457,689) was spent on Program Services. This indicates that the cost of administration and overhead are 16%, down from last years’ 22% in 2004. The trend in overhead costs has been declining each year since Enterprise Community inception. The long-term target for administration is 10% of total expenses. In 2005 total income was $622,840 of which $582,202 was unrestricted. Ending net assets were $45,923.

In 2006, pre-audited figures show that total expenses were $665,245. Total income was $800,090 and ending net assets were $164,797. Since inception in 1998 the trend of has been toward a steadily rising level of income and expenses in each subsequent year. $1,050 in private cash contributions was received and no fundraising expenses were incurred.

BUILDING CAPACITY:
In 2006, 128 new partners were recruited to participate in development efforts, including stakeholders, technical assistants, agencies and organizations, bringing the total for the Enterprise Community (EC) collaboration to 971 partners. More than 100 community members have been engaged in leadership roles in the implementation of projects. Partnership coordination and community involvement remain cornerstones to the success of EC efforts.

In 2006, 222 community members volunteered to assist with projects and events, bringing the total project to date to 1400 volunteers. 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 are not aware of EC involvement to seed or launch the project initiatives they are being served by, clearly the majority of this small population are benefiting from the efforts; as users of public infrastructure, buildings and playgrounds, 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, NNEC initiatives have served 5,367 families and 5,523 clients, representing approximately 84% of the 6,612 persons listed in the EC population in 2000.

One indicator of impact is measured in terms of jobs creation. In 2006, 185 jobs were either created or retained. Over the life of the project, 1,480 jobs have been created and 556 saved. While many of these are related to project construction activities, and are not generally considered as long term jobs, they are an important source of income to Native families. An addition, 327 youth and 10 college graduates were placed in jobs. For perspective on the impact of job creation, it is worthy to note that the number of new jobs created represents 95% of the 2149 member population of EC residents in the workforce.

Another indication of impact is the positive trends in median family income as reflected by the 1990 versus the 2000 Census statistics. The Lac du Flambeau Reservation is up 66%. Menominee is up 52%, and Mole Lake is up 70%. Likewise the percentage of families living below poverty is down 46%, 22%, and 27% for the same respective communities!

STRATEGY:
The NiiJii Communities defined ten strategies in their long-term plan for sustainable development. These are reported on in detail in the Accomplishments section of the report and are summarized below. 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 owned and Tribally owned businesses,
2. Develop mechanisms to diversify the economies now present in the EC,
3. Improve multi-cultural, 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, lengthen secondary seasons, and expand 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 forming Information technologies revolution,
8. Develop projects that 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. Follows a value-added economic development strategy.

*Disclaimer Notice

Northwoods NiiJii EC Summary Page    Northwoods NiiJii EC Funding Page 

Main Map    EZ/EC Home Page