From left: Gov. Bill Anoatubby, Dr. Karla Peterson, director of Entreprenuership Program, and ECU President, John Hargrave
ADA, Okla. - The East Central University School of Business recently recognized Gov. Bill Anoatubby with its annual "Entrepreneur of the Year" Award.
Gov. Anoatubby presented the feature address May 1 at the Leonard Limes Lectureship in Entrepreneurship at ECU. The Lectureship is funded through the endowment established by the late Leonard Limes, an ECU graduate and successful geologist and attorney.
A number of ECU School of Business students attended Gov. Anoatubby's lecture. Following the lecture, student teams were recognized with cash awards for their competitive scholastic projects.
Gov. Anoatubby praised the Chickasaw people and the tribe's employees for the commercial success the Chickasaw Nation had experienced.
"I am so privileged to be Governor of the Chickasaw Nation," he said. "I have the opportunity to work with many great people. So much of our success is determined by the many people involved and the tremendous effort they put forth."
When he was first elected Governor in 1987, the tribe, Gov. Anoatubby said, had federal grants and contracts totaling about $11 million. Resources were severely limited, he said, and the importance of developing additional revenues quickly became apparent.
"We knew we had to grow in sophistication, in how to successfully conduct business," Gov. Anoatubby said. "We assessed the needs of the Chickasaw people and began establishing a structure that would serve them well."
The four benchmark elements established, he said, were education, health care, housing and economic development. Of those four, he said, "we couldn't achieve the first three without the success of the fourth."
Gov. Anoatubby recounted the steps the tribe has taken on its path of business achievement, and tied those successes back to the tribal foundation elements.
Chickasaw students, he said, received over $11 million last year in grants, scholarships and assistance; over 1,000 Chickasaw students took advantage of leadership, language, arts and sports academies and camps last year; and the tribe has just broken ground on a new Science, Mathematics and Technology Center for students.
On the health care front, he said, the tribe compacted for Indian health care authority in the Ada area in 1994. Since that time, health care services have been greatly expanded, and the tribe will soon dedicate its new 380,000 square-foot health care facility in Ada.
Chickasaw housing, he said, has been expanded from traditional Indian housing programs to include home loan programs, closing cost assistance, counseling and more.
"Our businesses do more than simply provide jobs and funding," Gov. Anoatubby said. "These funds are used to provided a better way of life for Chickasaw families and their neighbors."
The Chickasaw Nation today employs about 11,500 people and operates businesses in entertainment, hospitality, media, manufacturing, health care, consulting and more.
Gov. Anoatubby is the ninth recipient of the "Entrepreneur of the Year" Award.
