Native entrepreneurs bring jobs and inspiration to their communities
Angela Davis, Chris Farrell and Maja Beckstrom
August 17, 2026 9:00 AM
Updated: August 17, 2026 11:47 AM
MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the growth of Native entrepreneurship with Robert Blake (left), founder of the solar development company Solar Bear, and Madonna Peltier-Yawakie, co-founder of the telecommunications company Turtle Island Communications, Inc.
Melissa Olson | MPR News and Steven Garcia for MPR News
American Indians on tribal lands in the United States have historically faced some of the nation’s worst economic conditions.
Casinos have helped improve bring jobs and development to many Minnesota tribes over the past four decades. And, now, the number of other types of businesses owned by Native entrepreneurs and tribal governments is growing — and becoming more diverse.
MPR News host Angela Davis talks with MPR News senior economics contributor Chris Farrell and two Native business owners featured in the new series from MPR’s Upper Midwest Newsroom “Beyond the Bet,” exploring the diversification of Native entrepreneurship.
MPR News host Angela Davis (right) talks with Chris Farrell (center), senior economics contributor for MPR News, and Robert Blake (left), founder of the solar installation business Solar Bear, in an MPR News studio in St. Paul on Monday.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News
Guests:
Robert Blake is the founder and CEO of the solar development business Solar Bear. He is also founder and executive director of Native Sun Community Power Development, a nonprofit organization that is building out an electric vehicle charging network on tribal lands and promoting clean energy through education and workforce training. He lives in St. Paul and is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe people in northern Minnesota.
Madonna Peltier-Yawakie is co-founder and president of Turtle Island Communications, Inc. based in Brooklyn Park, Minn. The company provides engineering and technical consulting services to tribes, states and federal agencies to expand broadband internet service in reservation communities. She is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota.
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