In a move to boost economic development, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has announced a $7 million loan program aimed at supporting small businesses within the community. According to an official statement on the Navajo Nation's website, the initiative is to work alongside Change Labs, a Tuba City-based nonprofit and business accelerator, to administer the loans.
The agreement, signed on Monday, deploys the Navajo Small Business Credit Initiative partnership among the Navajo Division of Economic Development, the Navajo Chamber of Commerce, and the Navajo Regional Business Development Office to, notably, help small businesses to thrive. "I am really looking forward to small businesses thriving, new ones starting, changing existing ones from feeling they were forgotten," President Nygren said. "We want business to grow and become bigger, to hire more people. We’re trying to change the narrative by investing in our own communities."
Heather Fleming, executive director for Change Labs, highlighted the program's ambitions in a statement obtained by the official website, saying, "With the ($7 million) in loans for Navajo businesses, we’re anticipating serving approximately 180 Navajo borrowers with loans as small as $10,000 and as large as $1 million." Change Labs is set to provide mentorship, training, and access to capital, to aid entrepreneurs in starting and scaling their operations. In the same statement, Tony Skrelunas, director for the Navajo Division of Economic Development, mentioned there are about 5,000 small businesses across the Navajo Nation.
The loan programs will begin to accept applications this month and will continue through 2027. Loans will range from $10,000 to $1 million to support small business ventures. Detailing the effectiveness of loan guarantees, Skrelunas said, "These guarantee programs have been shown to really work." The efforts come as part of a larger commitment, as the Division of Economic Development plans to allocate $87 million over 10 years to Diné business owners from federal funding. Skrelunas added that the $7 million earmarked for Change Labs will be instrumental in diversifying the Navajo economy and retaining capital within the Navajo Nation. With several small business support endeavors in motion and new staff hired to manage reports and oversee funding operations, the impact of President Nygren's policy on the local economy will be closely watched.
