Shonto Chapter ready for business

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

SHONTO — Shonto Local Community Governance was the first Navajo chapter to obtain local governance certification and the first to change its form of government through public referendum. Now, the Shonto community can claim another first since the Navajo Nation’s Economic Development Committee has delegated business site leasing authority to the local chapter.

The EDC approved Shonto’s business site leasing administrative management plan during a special meeting on July 9.

The application and approval process for business site leases will be done at Shonto, Robert Black said. After that it then goes to the president to sign off on, he added.

“The approval process is pretty much similar to the nation’s process. It’s a two-part approval. One is to have the ability to authorize approval of business site leases and the second part is the authority to manage business sites,” he said.

According to Black, who is Shonto’s governance manager, Shonto will work for two years under the mentorship of the Regional Business Development Office in Tuba City under the Division of Economic Development and the newly-created Department of Real Estate to implement and refine the administrative components of the plan.

“Ultimately, community members envision thriving businesses, support for local entrepreneurship, local government income from business site leases and partnerships that can be used to support much needed infrastructure,” Black stated.

Black noted that many regulations required by the tribe and the federal government will still be applied at the local level.

The chapter is looking at the junction of Arizona Route 98 and U.S. Route 160 to begin economic development.

“The site is ready to be developed and be occupied, but we need construction to go up” Black said. “Interest has been expressed by prospective businesses wanting to come here. It’s just a matter of us wanting to be in the driver’s seat as opposed to the Navajo Nation,” he said.
Black said that the community has a plan that it wants to go by but it would entail getting funding.

“It would be really beneficial for the community as a whole to have something in place there to be able to go to instead of Page, Tuba City , Kayenta,” he said. “It’s a crossroads from Colorado to Phoenix too.”

Governance certified chapters are able to keep the tax revenue that comes in from their respective chapters.

The Western Agency RBDO said that Tohnanees Dizi chapter, or Tuba City, has also expressed interest in gaining business site leasing authority. To get the authority, the Western RBDO said that chapters must develop two plans — one administrative and one management — and those plans must be approved by the EDC.