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October 28, 2022

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Building opportunities for Native Americans

By Tonya McMurray 

When Kurtis Trevan set out more than a decade ago to help his Indian tribe — Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, more commonly known as the Gun Lake Tribe — develop a casino, he was surprised at the difficulty in obtaining financing. He had spent his career in banking, much of it with Silicon Valley Bank — which financed technology and life sciences companies.

“It was so bizarre that we could finance technology and life sciences companies that were venture-backed and very risky propositions, but we could not get capital for what seemed like a solid enterprise,” he said. “There were other nontribal gaming projects in less attractive markets that were getting financed, and we had significant challenges getting financing for a good business opportunity in an attractive market.”

That was Trevan’s introduction to the challenges of minority business enterprises (MBEs), and he decided to use his banking experience to help his tribe. 

He now hopes to leverage that expertise as NMSDC’s first-ever entrepreneur in residence and vice president of MBE growth to help certified MBEs reach $1 trillion in annual revenue.

As the first Native American to join NMSDC’s executive leadership team, Trevan hopes to also bring focus to the needs and talent within Indian Country.

“I have a personal goal that when CNBC or Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal display pie charts on BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] businesses that Native and Tribal-owned is a dedicated sliver of that pie specifically titled ‘Native and Tribal-owned’ rather than simply included in ‘Other,’” he said. “If you don’t see it and you don’t measure it, then you’re not going to care about it. I believe Indian Country has more to offer than is often reflected in the data.”

While many people associate tribal businesses with gaming, only a little more than a third of federally recognized tribes operate casinos.

“Almost two-thirds of tribes are not involved in gaming, but because tribes are often known only for gaming, it has created a misperception that tribes aren’t suffering from the same access to capital and structural barriers as other minority-owned businesses,” he said. 

A capital-focused perspective

Trevan believes his experience with the Gun Lake Tribe will provide a solid foundation for helping all MBEs expand opportunities. 

“There are a lot of parallels with the challenges that exist for the Native community with those that exist for other underrepresented communities,” he said. “I bring a capital- and business-focused perspective on how to break through barriers.”

As part of his work with the Gun Lake Tribe, Trevan co-founded and led Gun Lake Investments. The tribal-owned firm focused on capital opportunities that diversified the tribe’s portfolio and targeted strong financial returns, while also remaining true to the values of Indian Country. More than half the firm’s operating expenses were spent on minority employees and minority-owned businesses. 

Trevan initiated two of the largest equity investments between two tribes in the history of Indian Country, which allowed the firm to scale into larger, less volatile investments. 

An entrepreneurial spirit

His experience seemed a good match for NMSDC CEO and President Ying McGuire’s goal of growing certified MBE annual revenue to $1 trillion. He joined the council’s executive team in July with the joint title of entrepreneur in residence and vice president of MBE growth.

“I think the entrepreneur-in-residence title is symbolic of a different frame of mind,” Trevan said. “Entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit are associated with innovation and growth. I like to use the entrepreneur in residence term first [before the vice president of MBE growth] because I think it’s the more important piece. It signifies that we are going to build out something transformative in the organization.”

McGuire said Trevan’s experience is the ideal match for the new position.

“Kurtis brings over a decade of business and investment experience to NMSDC and is a valuable addition to our leadership team,” she said. “His leadership and entrepreneurial spirit will be a key part of further developing the potential of NMSDC’s certified MBEs to help them achieve the collective goal of $1 trillion in annual revenue.” 

He hopes to create a growth infrastructure that will more effectively connect corporate members with MBE suppliers. 

“Because of the size of NMSDC’s ecosystem, it is not always easy for the two parties to meet,” Trevan said. “We know that if we can create efficiency in the ways key stakeholders meet, then we are going to accelerate the growth of MBE revenue. Our corporate members are demanding that, and we owe it to our MBEs to make their journeys easier.”

He hopes to create greater collaboration throughout the supplier-diversity community and generate greater infusion of capital into MBEs. Identifying industry trends and emerging needs will also be a priority.

“We want to identify where industries are moving, so we can better prepare and identify MBEs in our ecosystem to ensure they have the operational and capital resources to meet those needs in 10 years,” Trevan said. “We are not moving away from helping everybody now, but we also have to identify where we’re going in the future so we can continue to remain relevant. That will make us a better partner to our regional councils, our corporate members and our MBEs.” 

To learn more about NMSDC, visit nmsdc.org. 

To learn more about Trevan’s NMSDC appointment, visit mbnusa.biz/detail/trevan-first-native-american-on-nmsdcs-executive-leadership-team.