Through Piscataway Eyes TPE Inc

The Indigenous Small Business Incubator addresses high levels of poverty and unemployment among the tribal community by empowering indigenous entrepreneurs to create livelihoods for themselves and stable, well-paying jobs for their employees. The program’s emphasis is on creating environmentally conscious businesses and green jobs that will sustain the community while preserving Mother Earth.

The program currently provides one-on-one mentoring; assistance in developing a business plan and applying for licenses, certifications, and insurance; assistance in conducting market research and developing a business plan; support and training in HR, budgeting, and payroll; assistance in applying for business loans and small business grants; and on-the-job and classroom training. Thus far, 100% of program graduates were able to launch small businesses or expand their small business' revenue after completing the program.

The proposed MIT Solve grant would allow TPE to expand programming significantly to truly provide a full-service small business incubator. It would help provide office space and equipment, such as computers, printers, and software, for budding entrepreneurs and help develop and formalize relationships with local banks and other lenders so that these entrepreneurs can access the start-up capital that they need. The grant would also scale the program by approximately 300% within five years. 

Despite their prominent place in colonial American lore as one of the first tribes of contact, today there is a high degree of need for entrepreneurship and employment among the 3,500 enrolled members of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe. Poverty among the Piscataway Conoy community is at 28% and unemployment is around 12%.

Geography plays a part in keeping tribal poverty, underemployment, and housing insecurity rates high. Most tribal members live on their ancestral lands in the region between Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC, one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the country.  In 2019, the average one-bedroom dwelling rented for $1,454 a month. In November 2021, the median listing price for a home in Charles County was close to $400,000. Typical blue collar jobs here are often exploitative – the majority are in the service industry – and do not pay enough to secure fair market apartment housing and hardly ever allow blue collar families to save up enough for a home purchase.

Like many Native Americans, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe experiences poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and chronic diseases related to poverty at levels higher than those of the general U.S. population. The problem is rooted in issues surrounding the fact of Native American-ness, particularly present-day discrimination from the business establishment and Piscataway distrust warranted by centuries of exploitation. The solution, similarly, is rooted in Native American-ness. It is driven by Piscataway cultural values and empowers Piscataway individuals to become business leaders in the industries they have already occupied and mastered, rather than attempting to reeducate or “upskill” them for tech industries that they are not interested in entering. Construction, food processing, landscaping, and even agriculture are, in fact, all still growth industries in the D.C.-Baltimore region.

Chief Jesse Swann, Jr. is uniquely qualified to lead this program. As chief of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, he enjoys an unparalleled level of trust within the community. He is also very knowledgeable about the subject of launching a small business. He has founded several small businesses and has owned a minority-certified (LSDBE) business in DC for the past 16 years. Swann Construction, Inc. is also certified by the DC Department of Transportation and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, among many others. Chief Swann has been bringing innovative green practices to the construction industry for 20 years.

The Indigenous Small Business Incubator target small business owners and aspiring small business owners among 3,500 enrolled tribal members and 35,000 additional individuals who are eligible for enrollment. Criteria for being accepting into the program include Piscataway ancestry, commitment to creating green jobs, and the ability to commit time and effort to nurturing their small businesses for at least six months.

The program currently serves 14 Maryland residents ages 30-55 who are 57% male and 79% formally educated to below an undergraduate-level degree. Among current participants, half already owned a small business upon joining the program and half were seeking assistance in launching one. The industries that are most represented among program participants are construction and agriculture.

As chief of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, Chief Swann meets with the tribal community at least once a month. He is always accessible if a tribal member wishes to express a need, concern, or feedback. The Indigenous Small Business Incubator is a solution developed after several tribal members expressed to Chief Swann in 2020 that they could not find resources or assistance in launching or growing a small business.

The program currently provides one-on-one mentoring; assistance in developing a business plan and applying for licenses, certifications, and insurance; assistance in conducting market research and developing a business plan; support and training in HR, budgeting, and payroll; assistance in applying for business loans and small business grants; and on-the-job and classroom training. Thus far, 100% of program graduates were able to launch small businesses or expand their small business' revenue after completing the program. The proposed MIT Solve grant would allow TPE to expand programming significantly to truly provide a full-service small business incubator.  

Maryland, Washington, DC.

Yes. Through Piscataway Eyes (TPE) assists tribal members though direct services and by preserving the unique cultural contributions of our people.

TPE addresses immediate needs among our tribal members: Hunger, homelessness, and lack of adequate medical care. We provide nutritious food and emergency funds for rent, mortgage payments, medical care, and health insurance premiums, serving as a safety net for low-income families who are at risk of facing homelessness or health emergencies. The organization also works towards growing small businesses that provide green jobs to our community and preserving the culture and traditions of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe for future generations.

The Indigenous Small Business Incubator will build a movement to address systemic poverty within the Piscataway Conoy Tribe. It would release tribal members from their disproportionate dependence on service industry and other low-paying jobs by ultimately creating thousands of well-paying, stable, green jobs for all members of the community.

The program builds on knowledge and values that are already ingrained in Piscataway individuals. For many, dreams of owning a small business have long been held, but never saw the light of day due to risk-aversion and lack of a trusted mentor/resource who can help navigate the legal and financial requirements of launching a successful business. The Indigenous Small Business Incubator will provide the resources and support needed to start one’s own business and achieve the dream of financial independence.

In order to address the historic wariness of local lending institutions, TPE will vet loan candidates and equip them to be financially responsible. Over time, banks will see Piscataway small businesses as excellent investments, allowing program participants to access more capital at more generous terms.

The program builds confidence and competency. It will produce many entrepreneurs who will go on to serve as role models and mentors to other aspiring Piscataway, Native American, and BIPOC entrepreneurs in the region. It promotes a culture of giving back. In fact, program participants are contractually obligated to provide living wage employment as their businesses grow. They are also encouraged to return to the program to provide the insights of their own journeys and mentor younger people participating in the Indigenous Small Business Incubator. As an organization, TPE will provide any possible technical support to other organizations wishing to establish BIPOC community-informed business incubators.

The Indigenous Small Business Incubator currently serves 14 small businesses, including seven small businesses that are in an early or conceptual stage and may not be incorporated yet. With funding from MIT Solve, the program is expected to serve 30 small businesses in one year and 45 small businesses in Maryland, Virginia, and DC in five years. Moreso than service numbers, funding would expand the scope of assistance that the Indigenous Small Business Incubator is able to provide to program participants.

TPE serves 3,500 enrolled tribal members and 35,000 additional individuals eligible for tribal enrollment. Most like in Maryland, Virginia, and DC but they are represented throughout the United States and Canada. Currently, Piscataway Elders are the prime stakeholders in the community, able to discern the big picture and act with the benefit of their experience and wisdom. However, Chief Swann seeks and values the input of all tribal members. In the near future, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe expects to elect a new tribal council composed of people within the community willing and able to be designated with that responsibility.

The Indigenous Small Business Incubator is inherently community-based and place-based. The program was created in response to the need articulated by tribal members at public meetings with Chief Swann. As the program was developed from 2018 through the present, approximately 400 tribal members have provided input regarding services that the program ought to provide, industries it ought to serve, service delivery methods, cost distribution, and many more aspects of the Indigenous Small Business Incubator program. It targets the skill sets of Piscataway individuals and the Maryland industries in which they are already well-represented. 

For TPE, this process has for the most part proceeded organically, as entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs have reached out to Chief Swann for advice and support. In addition, the nonprofit has received a grant to conduct a detailed census and health survey of the tribe. This project will enable TPE to contact each of the 3,500 enrolled tribal members and many of the 35,000 people who are eligible for tribal enrollment and have a conversation with them about their aspirations and needs. The census project will facilitate scaling geographically as it will make TPE aware of other pockets of high poverty/high need, other target industries, and other environmental challenges important to the Piscataway Conoy Tribe throughout the United States.

GOAL 1: Expand program offerings within one year to include office space and technology that will assist small business owners in getting their dreams off the ground.

STRATEGIES:

• Provide co-working space for 30 program participants for the duration of the six-month program that includes desks, personal computers, and a community printer/copier, as well as a conference area.
• Install Quickbooks and Microsoft Office on personal computers.
• In order to address the digital divide, provide one-on-one tech training to participants, many of whom do not own computers.
• Give program participants the opportunity to purchase computers at a discounted rate at the end of program.
• Foster a spirit of camaraderie by providing on events.

GOAL 2: Grow service numbers by 300% in five years

STRATEGIES:

• Promote program regularly on social media and tribal meetings.
• Conduct outreach to tribal members outside of immediate geography to assess needs and opportunities.
• Develop programming and support for at least two new industries (such as restaurants, hotels, etc.) where tribal members are already represented.

GOAL 3: Improve access to capital for BIPOC small business owners.

STRATEGIES:

• Establish partnerships with at least two local lenders in 2022.
• Assist participants in raising their credit score prior to applying for a small business loan.
• Provide extensive training on budgeting and require that participants demonstrate competency before launching their small business.
• By 2025, extend lending partnerships and negotiate for more favorable lending terms if track record continues to warrant it. As of today, 100% of incubator businesses have succeeded.

Chief Jesse Swann, Jr. is uniquely qualified to lead this program. As chief of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, he enjoys an unparalleled level of trust within the community. He is also very knowledgeable about the subject of launching a small business. He has founded several small businesses and has owned a minority-certified (LSDBE) business in DC for the past 16 years. Swann Construction, Inc. is also certified by the DC Department of Transportation and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, among many others. Chief Swann has been bringing innovative green practices to the construction industry for 20 years.

Chief Swann is intimately aware of the intergenerational cycle of poverty that affects that Piscataway Conoy Tribe. His community values kinship density highly and individual tribal members remain in areas with high living costs and/or poor job prospects in order to remain close to their family members. Chief Swann faced many challenges to his own entrepreneurial success. When he succeeded, he stayed in the same town and began working to uplift others, rather than relocating to a more prestigious neighborhood. His work as a tireless volunteer and advocate for the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, particularly on behalf of underemployed youth, was one of the reasons the clan mothers selected him as chief, a leadership position held for life.

TPE is applying to the Truist Foundation Inspire Awards because it is so well-aligned with our needs at this point. While funding would be deeply appreciated, the success of the Indigenous Small Business Incubator also depends on TPE’s ability to secure expertise and support in becoming the best possible provider of these services to aspiring entrepreneurs. We recognize that moving from helping our neighbors start their own businesses to assisting hundreds tribal members in economically depressed pockets throughout the U.S. is a tremendous leap. 

We are also applying to the Inspire Awards because we believe that the Truist Foundation and MIT Solve understand and agree with our philosophy of finding solutions to tribal problems within the tribe. Our program is inherently community-based and ambitious. Our program is designed to be more than a solitary windfall for aspiring entrepreneurs; It empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to address intergenerational underemployment and poverty by creating stable, decent jobs and to do their part in healing Mother Earth.  

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We need partners who are able to provide strategic oversight around expanding to new markets and attracting lending partners and funders. We are also struggling in quantifying the true impact of the program because of its dependence on in-kind income and the difficulty of calculating economic return after the first year.

TPE is interested in working with banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. An objective of the program is to promote blue collar small businesses in general and indigenous blue collar small businesses in particular as reliable investments. We would also like lenders to acknowledge the public good in terms of living wage job growth and environmental impact that our participants’ businesses contribute to. Working together with partnering financial institutions, we believe that it is possible to revamp lending criteria to take into consideration such public goods in the decision-making around access to capital.

In addition, TPE is interested in sharing best practices and potentially resources with other BIPOC-serving small business programs in the DC – Baltimore region.