Through RES DC, the National Center seeks to bring Indian Country to our nation’s capital to expand business opportunities, entrepreneurship, and provide networking opportunities with leaders in government, business, and tribes. Though this is our first conference in DC, RES is the largest and longest-running American Indian business event in the country.

In addition to great speakers and presenters from across many government agencies and leaders in top corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and the Nova Corporation, we are announcing the launch of our online business development and training initiative, the National Center Edge portal.

The National Center Edge initiative will provide 24/7 online access and training to Indian Country across the fields of entrepreneurship, small business, emerging markets, business development, and much more. We are very excited about what this initiative will mean for the advancement of American Indian businesses and the development of future entrepreneurs.

The National Center and its programs and services seek to alleviate a very real challenge among our people. Native American poverty rates far outpace the national average, exceeding 60 percent in some areas. High poverty leads to myriad other issues that plague our communities.

We believe that economic opportunity is the way out of poverty. While self-reliance has always been important across Indian Country, there are certainly ways the federal government can assist in our efforts to create good jobs and opportunity for American Indians.