Small business incubator Native FORGE has launched its first cohort in partnership with the San Carlos Apache Tribe of Arizona.

As a way to provide the training and skills needed to run a business, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management have developed programs geared to help Indigenous entrepreneurs. The University of Arizona will work with five Indigenous entrepreneurs from the San Carlos Apache Tribe as part of Native FORGE.

Arizona’s Native American tribes are getting help fostering entrepreneurship among their members from the University of Arizona’s business accelerator. Last week, Arizona FORGE (Finding Opportunities and Resources to Grow Entrepreneurs) picked the San Carlos Apache Tribe as the first participant in Native FORGE, a five-year effort to help advance Native American business startups across the state.

When shipping issues were hurting the hemp-oil business they founded in Chicago a few years ago, Kameron Norwood and partner David DiCosola decided to build their own packing and shipping operation. They ended up building a whole new company, PackDash, which caters to the logistical needs of small- to mid-size retailers. They moved the company headquarters to Tucson and opened a fulfillment center near downtown in August 2021.

Recently, the University of Arizona created Native FORGE to support Indigenous entrepreneurs from Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribes. Lisa Mueller, Chair-Elect of the EDI committee, talked with Brian Ellerman, Founding Director of Arizona FORGE on the creation of Native FORGE, what’s next for the program, and how others can model a similar program.

Entrepreneurs from Arizona’s tribal nations can develop their small businesses with help from the University of Arizona through a new program aimed at providing support for developing tribal economies.

The program, dubbed Native FORGE, will provide and facilitate high-quality entrepreneurship development and support services to underserved communities in Tucson and the 22 federally recognized Tribes in Arizona, according to the University of Arizona.

Indigenous entrepreneurs in Arizona will receive targeted support through Native FORGE, a new University of Arizona program designed to drive economic development in the state’s 22 federally recognized tribes. Through mentorship, data training, development and assessment, the program takes aim at the specific needs of Native entrepreneurs and is made possible by a $500,000 matching grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.