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SDPR: Native American Natural Foods sees big boost in business





"If you think unemployment is bad where you live, take a look at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Tribal officials there say more than 70 percent of the working-age population is without a job. And within one of the nation's toughest local economies, a reservation-based business is struggling to grow.

The town of Kyle, S.D., sits among the rolling prairie and rugged Badlands of the Pine Ridge Reservation. This isolated community supports a handful of businesses, one of which is Native American Natural Foods, which makes energy bars, organic buffalo jerky and other meat products..

The company is one of six chosen to receive Social Venture Network's 2011 Innovation Awards. The organization, comprised of sustainable businesses that include Ben and Jerry's and Birkenstock, recognized companies that drive sustainability and community development while creating employment opportunities for under-served communities, including U.S. veterans, Native Americans and African war survivors."

Get the Story:
Growing Pains Hurt Native American Food Company (South Dakota Public Radio 8/15)

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