Travois is celebrating 20 years of service and a $1 billion impact in American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. The company is kicking off a #20YearsEquals campaign to highlight its clients’ and partners’ incredible achievements over the past 20 years.
Since Travois’ beginnings in 1995, Native organizations have worked with Travois to create a $1 billion impact using two federal tax credit programs: the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to build or rehabilitate safe, affordable housing and the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program to develop businesses, infrastructure and new services. Before Travois started, very few tribes knew about the opportunities for development with these programs, and now, for Travois and its partners, 20 years equals more than 180 LIHTC and NMTC projects in 20 states with 79 Native organizations, 4,621 new or rehabilitated homes, over 14,140 people living in safe, affordable housing, and 20 job-creating businesses.
“Travois is a family business,” said David Bland, chairman and CEO of Travois. “And families are the best way to measure the meaning of the billion-dollar milestone we have reached together. Today, 1,758 families have the opportunity to own their own home because of the LIHTC program. Through the investments we have made together, another 3,059 families have benefited because a parent, sibling or grandparent got a quality job from these developments.”
These numbers don’t tell the personal stories of what homes and jobs mean in Native communities. Travois shares stories on its website through interviews with people who have benefited: a child in Arizona now has his own bedroom, free from insects, and enjoys the warmth of his new home; a single mother in Minnesota no longer has to “couch hop” from one friend’s home to another and has finished her degree; and students in Arizona are on their way to achieving their career goals while studying for GED tests. The LIHTC and NMTC programs are doing a tremendous amount of good in Indian Country.
Travois will be carrying the #20YearsEquals campaign throughout the year and encourages its partners to participate. Lance Morgan, president and CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., has already joined the conversation. Ho-Chunk Inc. was launched in 1994 and is the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Today, it employs 1,200 people across the United States and in four foreign countries. For Lance and Ho-Chunk, #20YearsEquals $270 million in revenue, 1,200 employees, 115 new housing units, and a whole generation of growth and pride in the community.
View Lance’s video and 20th anniversary details here: www.travois.com/20YearsEquals.