RURAL AND NATIVE AMERICAN FINANCE |
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NATIVE AMERICAN FINANCE Clements Partners has been providing financial advisory services to Native American Tribes throughout the Western United States since 1996. Since 1978, Managing Member, Scott Clements has been advising and recruiting institutional funding for a broad range of Native American projects, including tribal infrastructure, business acquisitions, gaming, hospitality, energy and tribal housing. "Our work in Native America, has been a unique opportunity. It has been a privilege to serve Native America, to learn their individual cultures, goals, visions and to be able to leverage our skills to help our clients realize their economic and community objectives." "Our experience has taught us that financing projects in Native America involves a very different set of parameters for access to funding than with mainstream conventional projects. Essential to successful financing is the need to have a thorough working knowledge of Native American law, individual tribal organizational structures and an abiding respect for individual tribal values and customs." Scott's enterprise experience includes successful lender recruitment for the first institutional financing in the United States, of a start-up, tribally managed, Native American casino. In an early landmark financing, Scott assisted a Northwest tribe in accessing tax-exempt financing for its hydroelectric project 3 years before Native American tribes were granted tax-exempt financing authority as part of the Indian Tax Status Act of 1982. Scott is a Founding Director and currently serves, as Treasurer on the Board of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) Economic Development Corporation. Upon request we will provide a comprehensive listing of projects we have provided services for in Native America. |
RURAL ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCE Clements Partners has a history of organizing and facilitating development financing for rural American public/private ventures. Development finance in this sector requires careful analysis of local competitive advantages/disadvantages, resources/limitations, existing and potential workforce skills and community cultural values. Often this sector is best served by non-bank lenders or guarantors such as state or federal economic and community development agency loan funds and grants. Where rural communities partner with corporate enterprise it is imperative that the partnership is win-win for both parties. Partners' task is to assist in identifying the resources that each can bring to the venture and structure a Plan of Finance around the parties' respective strengths. With a Plan of Finance in place, Partners provides recommendations and leadership as to how to most efficiently accomplish the desired funding at lowest cost. In that vein, local banks typically serve an essential role in rural development and it is important to identify roles they can play, even if the overall transaction is significantly above their lending capacity. Carving out parts of a larger transaction may well serve the dual benefit of including a local institution and reducing the overall cost of project funding. In rural America there is no "standard" development finance template. Partners extensive experience in this sector provides unique perspective and ability to assemble collaborative funding resources to address each community's unique needs. |
