David W. Bland

One of the nicest surprises of Travois’ 20th anniversary year has been hearing other people’s reflections on the past two decades.

To our friends and partners across Indian Country, I offer heartfelt congratulations.
During the 20 years Travois has been in business, American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian organizations have used our services to develop more than $1 billion in projects.

A panel of judges selected 25 NextGen Leaders, a Kansas City Business Journal award, based on their accomplishments, talents and contributions to the Kansas City community. Elizabeth Bland Glynn, our chief operation officer (and my daughter), was selected as one of these inspiring 25.

For the first time in history, California has awarded Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to a tribal project. This breakthrough for Indian Country is coming from a pilot Native American set-aside.

Last Wednesday was the last day of work at the San Carlos Housing Authority for Alonzo Lamas, the chief financial officer at the housing authority for 11 years, five months and five days, as Alonzo so meticulously pinpointed. Anyone who knows Alonzo will not be surprised by this attention to detail.

To remind us of the hard work and dedication put in to each project, by Travois and our clients, here is a look back at 2013.

Some highlights of the year:

Releasing $10,924,547 in developer fees for 25 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects – an average of about $437,000 per project.

The IRS has posted a useful audio seminar on its website that provides a good overview of Tribal Bonds, Tribal Economic Development Bonds (TEDBs) and Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB). The seminar takes about 40 minutes and provides a useful overview of these categories.

I am pleased to share the news about promotions and new hires that have occurred at Travois this fall. The expertise of our staff members is unparalleled, and these changes ensure that we bring our clients and partners an even higher level of service than ever before.

We would like to send warm holiday wishes to all of our partners! View our holiday card below.

If you want a good laugh, check out our “almost” holiday card.

It was an honor and a privilege to offer my perspective on the housing crisis plaguing Indian Country at a July 24 hearing on “Housing Partnerships in Indian Country” for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in Washington, D.C.