Statement of Dale Nadeau, President and Chairman and Industry and Business Development,
Turtle Mountain Manufacturing Company Belcourt, North Dakota

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Tax Incentives for Renewal Communities

May 21, 2002

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Coyne, and members of the Subcommittee on Oversight, good afternoon. My name is Dale Nadeau, and I am the President and Chairman of Industry and Business Development at Turtle Mountain Manufacturing Company in Belcourt, North Dakota. I extend my thanks to the Subcommittee for the opportunity to provide testimony on the Renewal Community Initiative today.

The Turtle Mountain Manufacturing Company was founded in 1979 as a low to medium volume metal fabrication manufacturing plant with a variety of production capabilities. Our company handles manufacturing, welding, and finishing, and generally employs 150-200 people annually. The cornerstone of Turtle Mountain Manufacturing Company is its employees. We view our employees as members of a team and strive to create opportunities for their education and advancement.

The Turtle Mountain Manufacturing Company is located in Belcourt, North Dakota, on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. The reservation is home to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and is located in the north-central part of the state, near the Canadian border. The Turtle Mountain community includes a major health care facility, an educational system that includes a federally chartered local community college, a federally recognized housing administration, and manufacturing and service industries.

Unfortunately, like so many Indian communities across the country, Turtle Mountain has long faced severe economic troubles, and to a large extent, these difficulties have only worsened in recent years. The Turtle Mountain Reservation today struggles with an unemployment rate near 30%, with more than half of the Reservation's residents below the poverty line.

To make matters worse, our community has recently been forced to fight a terrible natural disaster. A wet cycle that hit the region in the late 1990s created soil conditions which led to an infestation of black mold in several hundred homes on the reservation. The region was included in a Presidential disaster declaration issued last year, and many families were displaced.

Despite the economic difficulties Turtle Mountain faces, I believe that our community has the ingredients to build a better future. The most important of these ingredients is a population that is determined to work hard and do what it takes to improve the quality of life on the reservation. I have always found my employees to be to be steady, determined, and highly motivated.

We are grateful for being selected as one of 12 rural communities, and 40 communities nationwide, to participate in the Renewal Communities program. Designation as a Renewal Community by the Department of Housing and Urban Development will help bring Turtle Mountain the economic stimulus it needs to realize its potential. We gladly accept this designation, and the promises and challenges it will bring over the next several years.

As a renewal community, we will actively pursue business opportunities in industries that will bring economic self-sufficiency to the Turtle Mountain reservation. Our primary goal will be to provide employment opportunities for the citizens of Belcourt and the surrounding areas: a population in excess of 17,000 residents.

I strongly believe that the tax incentives that are part of the renewal community program will provide a great economic stimulus to the region. These incentives will not only make it possible for existing businesses, such as Turtle Mountain Manufacturing Company, to expand, but will also make the reservation an attractive option for new businesses, as well.

In addition to the tax incentives that make the Renewal Communities program so important to our community, this program has been designed to combine federal resources with local initiatives to achieve and sustain greater economic development. In implementing this program, HUD has truly taken an innovative approach to economic revitalization. The Renewal Community designation gives us important economic tools to attract the investment necessary to sustain economic development. However, the program also recognizes that local communities, working together, can best identify and develop local solutions to the problems they face. Therefore, Turtle Mountain and other Renewal Community designees will have a great deal of control over how the program is implemented on the local level. With this designation comes the challenge of utilizing it to the best possible interests of the community, and Turtle Mountain is determined to do so.

The Turtle Mountain Reservation has begun the process of creating a long-range economic development plan which takes full advantage of our Renewal Community designation. This plan will detail specific steps that Turtle Mountain will take to fully capitalize on the Renewal Community designation. We intend to expand businesses, reduce unemployment, and increase home ownership. We hope that as a Renewal Community, we can begin the economic revitalization of our region and improve our quality of life.

The citizens of Belcourt and the Turtle Mountain Reservation are very excited to be part of this program. As both a businessman and community member, I share their excitement. This is a valuable program that offers a great deal of economic hope to our region. We are grateful to be designated as a Renewal Community, and confident that this designation will help bring a better future to our region.

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of the Turtle Mountain Reservation and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, I again thank you for allowing me to testify before you today. Thank you.