Choctaw Nation earns ‘Promise Zone’ designation

WASHINGTON – The Choctaw Nation is getting an assist from the federal government.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama announced that the southeastern Oklahoma tribe, along with San Antonio’s Eastside neighborhood, five Los Angeles neighborhoods, West Philadelphia and the Kentucky Highlands in the state’s southeastern corner, are his administration’s first “Promise Zones.”

Selected through a competitive application process, the five Promise Zones will receive technical assistance, federal staff support, more extensive preference points and access to other federal grants programs. Pending Congressional approval, there may also be tax credits and incentives available for private businesses that  hire and invest in Promise Zones to create jobs and attract additional private investments. The program pulls together resources from multiple federal agencies, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Education and Agriculture.

“Every one of those communities had to have an overall poverty rate of at least 20 percent,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. “At least one census tract within each zone had to be at least 30 percent.”

Headquartered in Durant, Okla., the Choctaw Nation’s jurisdictional area covers 11 counties in whole or in part. According to data published by the USDA, only two of those counties – Latimer and Pittsburg – have poverty rates below 20 percent.  Smaller pockets within the tribe’s jurisdictional area have poverty rates exceeding 50 percent.

With its new federal designation, the Choctaw Nation will emphasize education through partnerships not only with the 85 school districts in its service area, but also with Oklahoma State University, Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton and the Kiamichi Technology Center, a regional vocational school also based out of Wilburton, with branch campuses across the Choctaw Nation. These partnerships will provide better workforce training with an emphasis on offering nationally-recognized certification in the science, technology and medical fields.

The tribe will also work to improve southeastern Oklahoma’s infrastructure through investments and the pursuit of economic diversification by utilizing natural, historic, and cultural resources to support growth - including evaluation of market capacity for local farmers’ markets, implementation of technology-enhanced “traditional” farming and ranching and large-scale greenhouses. The tribe will also offer specialized training in business plan development, marketing and financing to support the development of women-owned businesses in the Promise Zone.

“This designation will assist ongoing efforts to emphasize small business development and bring economic opportunity to the high-need communities,” Chief Gregory Pyle said. “I am confident that access to the technical assistance and resources offered by the Promise Zone designation will result in better lifestyles for people living and working within the Choctaw Nation.”

Tribes that participated in at least one of four federal programs were eligible to apply for Promise Zone designation. Seventeen other tribal communities and inter-tribal partnerships nationwide were eligible for the Promise Zone designation and federal officials hinted Thursday that several just missed out.

“No question that the rural and tribal areas that were picked are areas of consistent deep poverty,” Vilsack said. “There were areas in Louisiana and New Mexico, along with several tribal areas that we will be working with in the future to get their applications up to point where they could be considered for Promise Zone funding.”

First announced during the 2013 State of the Union address, 15 more communities across the country will also be designated as Promise Zones over the next three years.

“They (Promise Zones) are neighborhoods where we will help local efforts to meet one national goal -- that a child’s course in life should be determined not by the zip code she’s born in, but by the strength of her work ethic and the scope of her dreams,” Obama said Thursday.