Job Creation and Job Skills Development in Indian Country. Reviews of EconomicDevelopment Literature and Practice: No. 10

摘要

This study researches job creation and the development of job skills in IndianCountry. The first part of the study reviews the literature on job creation and the development of job skills as it applies to the special circumstances of Native Americans. Three issues emerged from review: the importance of culturally consistent and proactive governments, the importance of business enterprises that are politically independent from the tribe, and the need for additional resources devoted to technical assistance. The second part of the study presents the results of a survey that was sent to tribes in the 48 contiguous states. This survey sought to evaluate the relative success of major economic development programs in promoting job training and the development of job skills. Job training programs were rated highly by survey respondents. The research also indicated that many tribes are still new to economic development. A major policy recommendation of the study is the call for increased training and networking for tribal economic development practitioners. Through this, tribal economic developers may better be able to utilize available resource from 'best practices' of other practitioners to creative funding sources for their programs. The report should be helpful to practitioners of economic development in Indian Country and to government policy makers in the areas of community and economic development.