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CSKT’s Sovereign Leasing and S&K Business Services detail equipment‑leasing, microloans and procurement preference to lift local entrepreneurs
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Summary
James Weibel described how CSKT’s Sovereign Leasing & Financing and S&K Business Services use equipment leasing, microloans, training and a tribal procurement preference to help citizen‑owned businesses compete for tribal contracts and address a local housing backlog.
James Weibel, president of Sovereign Leasing & Financing and general manager of S&K Business Services, described a set of place‑based tools the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes use to support tribal entrepreneurs: microloans and business loans, equipment and tool leasing at reduced rates, free entrepreneurship classes, and an Indian‑preference procurement policy for tribal projects.
"The Boulder Hydro plant generates roughly $70,000 a year in revenue for our company," Weibel said, describing one enterprise that contributed to S&K’s self‑sustainability. He also described the tribe’s self‑storage business (160 units built in 2017 with a 90‑unit expansion last year) and two 2,400‑square‑foot warehouses used under long‑term leases.
On procurement, Weibel said CSKT requires three bids for construction and contract work and that at least one bid must come from a CSKT entity or a CSKT tribal member. He described programs that lease equipment to local contractors at lower rates and that advance funds for materials (backed by the local housing authority) so small local contractors can compete as prime contractors or win subcontracts. Those efforts, he said, helped move a backlog of vacant houses toward repair—he cited that the number of vacant houses dropped from roughly 98 to about 62 and that local contractors completed about 30 houses in the past two years.
Weibel said S&K provides extensive training and technical assistance—business development, financial literacy and mock operational simulations—and offers continuing‑education credit arrangements with a local college for participants in its entrepreneurship classes. He also described grants that support operations (a partnership planning grant and a Native American business advisor grant he named during the session) and said S&K may apply for USDA energy and mineral grants to update the Boulder Hydro plant.
Weibel said the program aims to make entrepreneurs self‑sufficient and reduce reliance on loans by improving cash flow and bidding capacity, and that S&K plans to become a native certified community development financial institution (CDFI) in the future.
