DENVER – Native American Bank, N.A. has been designated by the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development Division of Capital Investment as a Department of the Interior Performance Lender, President and CEO Thomas D. Ogaard recently announced. This designation, the highest the Department approves, makes Native American Bank one of three lenders in the United States to earn this classification in the Loan Guarantee, Insurance and Interest Subsidy Program.
In 1974, the Indian Financing Act was established to provide reservation businesses with access to investment capital equal to that available to businesses in non-reservation areas. The Indian Loan Guarantee, Insurance and Interest Subsidy Program (ILGP) was established to help lenders reduce risks on the loans they make to eligible Native American-owned businesses, primarily by providing a guarantee up to 90 percent of the unpaid principal and interest.
The program is open to federally-recognized American Indian tribes or Alaska Native groups, individually enrolled members of such tribes or groups, or a business organization with no less than 51 percent ownership by American Indians or Alaska Natives. The borrower’s project must be located on or near a federally recognized Indian reservation, or recognized service area, and the project must contribute to the economy of the reservation or service area.
“Native Americans often face the absence of access to financial capital and services, which is a significant impediment towards the realization of self-sufficiency and financial freedom. Our mission is “Native People Investing in Native Communities.” We are proud to have passed the rigorous standards set by the Department of the Interior regarding the Loan Guarantee, Insurance and Interest Subsidy Program,” said Ogaard.
The Department of the Interior may approve lenders under any of three different classifications, depending on factors such as the number of loans the Lender makes under the Program, the total principal balance of the Lender’s Program loans, the number of years the Lender stays involved with the Program, the relative benefits and opportunities the Lender gives to Indian business efforts through the Program, and the Lender’s overall compliance with Program requirements.
After earning the Approved Lender and Preferred Lender designation, a lender with five years maintaining a minimum outstanding balance of $2,000,000 in Program-guaranteed loans and/or a superior record of enhancing economic opportunities for Indian businesses, a Department of the Interior Lender with a satisfactory record of Program compliance may request approval from the Department for the designation “Department of the Interior Performance Lender.”
The Native American Bancorporation Co. was formed in 1998 by shareholders from twenty Tribal Nations and Alaskan Native Corporations to create a national bank to serve all Native people, communities, governments and enterprises across the county. In 2001, Native American Bank, N.A. (NAB) began operating as wholly owned subsidiary of The Native American Bancorporation Co.
Both The Native American Bancorporation Co. and NAB are certified Community Development Financial Institutions, whose purpose is to promote economic development in areas that are under served by traditional financial institutions.
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native American, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, territorial affairs, and insular areas of the United States.
