Litigation

First tribally-owned Wall St. investment firm

By Rob Roy Smith

After years of economic development focused on resource extraction and gaming, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, a federally-recognized tribe located in South Dakota, recently purchased the Westrock Group, making the company the first fully Tribally-owned investment firm.

This purchase signals not only a major shift in Tribal economic development focus, it also provides the Westrock Group with a huge advantage over other investment firms.  Because it is a Tribally-owned business, the firm will not be liable for Federal income tax.  Tribal ownership will also give Westrock access to funds that were previously off-limits because Westrock was not a minority-owned business.  Now the company may reach out to state pension funds, college endowments, and other government contractors that require a part of their money to be invested through minority-owned firms.

Without question, the growth potential for Westrock and the returns realized by the Tribe may herald a new era of Tribal economic development. 

Full post as published by Northwest Business Litigation Blog on November 17, 2009 (boomark / email).