CROW AGENCY, MT — Although it's only now just an odd pile of dirt, the spot on the Crow reservation could mean economic opportunity in the future.
On Thursday morning, members of Crow tribe gathered under a tent with food, song, and prayer to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation innovation center.
Plenty Doors, founded and directed by Charlene Johnson, is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the Crow reservation.
"Our overall primary goal is to improve health and the conditions on the Crow Reservation. There needs to be access to jobs, income, education, healthcare, food, good food, safe water, clean air, all of those things," said Johnson.
Although Plenty Doors has existed as a community space since 2017, its recent push toward change attracted a donation from the Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant.
An economic boost is needed in the community. After a study of the reservation, Plenty Doors found that "for every dollar that comes into the reservation, 85 cents leaves," said Johnson.
This grant will be used to build a large community center in the middle of downtown Crow Agency. The new center will be divided into two separate buildings, one 11,000 square feet and the other 7,000 square feet.
They will host both Plenty Doors's offices and available spaces to local businesses. Although Plenty Doors has a current office space, the building is almost 100 years old and needs renovation.
The Tipi Creek Café and Two-Whistles Construction are the two locally owned businesses that reside at the current Plenty Doors innovation center.
"If you look on the reservation, there's very few businesses, and so one of the things that we want to do here at Plenty Doors is that we want to build a private sector economy here. So, we are proposing to incubate up to five businesses in this particular building," says Johnson.
The new space has the ability to prevent economic leakage, celebrate Apsáalooke culture, use sustainable and green energy and provide capital for Crow residents.
The idea for the innovation center began back in 2019, and with funding from the Economy Development Administration, local business owners, including Tana Cummins, were able to make their dreams come true.
"In Crow Agency and inside our Crow Reservation, there isn't much economy that exists. So, this is gonna be huge for not only our economy but our community and our children... it's gonna pull right back into our community in so many ways" says Cummins.
Although it may only seem like a 100-year-old building and a pile of dirt, members of the Crow tribe are looking forward to what's to come.
"We're hoping that this is just the beginning of good things that are gonna happen in Crow Reservation," said Johnson.
Read more about the proposal or Plenty Doors' mission on their website.
