Mountain West News Bureau

The Mountain West News Bureau is a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, KUNR in Nevada, Nevada Public Radio, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana and Wyoming Public Media, with support from affiliate stations across the region.

Mountain West states rank high for Indigenous entrepreneurs to thrive, report finds

KUNR Public Radio | By Kaleb Roedel

Published December 5, 2024 at 2:33 PM PST

Naomi Duerr via X

Three Nations Cannabis dispensary in Reno, Nev., owned and operated by the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, is an example of a growing Indigenous-owned business in the Mountain West.

A new report reveals Indigenous-owned businesses contribute more than $46 billion to the U.S. economy each year. A lot of that activity is happening in the Western U.S.

Research firm B2B Reviews analyzed several factors to determine their rankings, including: the percentage of Indigenous-owned businesses within each state, how many people they employ, how much they’ve grown from 2022 to 2023, and the ratio of Indigenous businesses to the local tribal community.

Researchers found that Oregon is the best state in the country for Indigenous entrepreneurs. Other western states in the top 10 were Nevada (6th), Idaho (7th), Washington (9th) and New Mexico (10th). Not far behind were Arizona (12th) and California (17th).

Landing in the middle of the rankings were Colorado (22nd) and Montana (30th), and near the bottom were Wyoming (39th) and Utah (42nd).

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Nationwide, Indigenous entrepreneurs own 341,064 businesses and employ more than 215,000 Americans, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration

Still, Indigenous business owners face many challenges that politicians should address, said Zac Carman, who’s a member of the Kaw Tribe and CEO of ConsumerAffairs, a national user-review website.

“I think oftentimes state and federal are just completely disconnected from the realities of Indigenous peoples,” Carman said. “I think you would need to start by listening and building resources and programs that fit their reality.”

He said that could help Indigenous entrepreneurs gain more access to funding, business education, and mentorship.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.