Prior Lake, Minn. – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) received an Honoring Nations award today from the Harvard University Project on American Indian Economic Development. The SMSC’s nomination of the Scott County Association for Leadership and Efficiency (SCALE) was selected as an Honors recipient, the Honoring Nations award for excellence in Native American tribal governance.

SCALE consists of more than 30 members, including the SMSC, all of which are governments or agencies in Scott County. The organization formed in 2003 to foster regional collaboration, better serve local residents, and share resources to save money.

“SCALE has helped improve communication, trust and cooperation between the SMSC and neighboring governments,” said SMSC Chairman Charlie Vig. “We truly value the relationships we have built, and we appreciate the Harvard Project’s recognition of SCALE as a model for other communities and tribes to follow.”

One of the priorities of Honoring Nations is to help share the innovative ideas of its award recipients with other tribes across the country. Related to SCALE, the goal is to encourage tribes, cities, townships and counties nationwide to cooperate more as governments in order to build trust and effectively serve tribal members and local citizens.

Some of SCALE’s achievements include:

Regional Public Safety Training Facility – Needing a local option to train public safety officials, the SCALE partners combined resources to build a joint facility in 2008.
Fiber optic ring – To enhance its members’ ability to work together, SCALE helped develop a 94-mile fiber optic ring that allows every government and public agency in Scott County to function as one continual network. It is the largest high-speed fiber network in Minnesota.
First Stop Shop – A clearinghouse called the “First Stop Shop” was established in 2012 through SCALE to provide one point of contact for businesses that are interested in locating in Scott County. The First Stop Shop assisted Shutterfly and Emerson Electric in opening facilities in Scott County in 2013.
Mutual aid agreements – The SMSC’s Mdewakanton Public Safety has established 15 mutual aid agreements with other local fire and emergency response departments to improve the quality and speed of responses.
Joint transportation plan and numerous road projects – SCALE members developed a unified transportation plan and jointly implement road projects to increase safety and capacity.
Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) – As an outgrowth of SCALE, the IWG meets regularly to discuss land use, transportation, upcoming trust applications, and planning issues of common concern to the SMSC, Scott County, and the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee.
Interconnected water system – Another development that traces back to SCALE is the SMSC, the City of Prior Lake, and the City of Savage interconnecting their water systems, so that they can share water in the event of a shortage.

“The SMSC and SCALE’s other members make it a priority to work together, because we can accomplish much more that way than working alone,” said SCALE Chair Jay Whiting, who is a Shakopee City Councilmember. “Strong, creative partnerships are critical when needs must be met and budgets are stretched thin.”

From a pool of nearly 90 diverse programs that were nominated for an award, the Honoring Nations Board of Governors selected three High Honors and three Honors recipients. Awarded programs demonstrate tremendous impact in their communities and evidence great effectiveness, significance to sovereignty, transferability, and sustainability – the criteria by which Honoring Nations assesses applicant programs. In addition to the SMSC and SCALE, the other 2014 award recipients include the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma (High Honors), Lummi Nation in Washington (Honors), Ohkay Owingeh in New Mexico (High Honors), Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington (High Honors), and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington (Honors).

About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is a federally recognized, sovereign Indian tribe located southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul. With a focus on being a good neighbor, good steward of the earth, and good employer, the SMSC is committed to charitable donations, community partnerships, a healthy environment, and a strong economy. The SMSC and the SMSC Gaming Enterprise (Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and Little Six Casino) are the largest employer in Scott County. Out of a Dakota tradition to help others, the SMSC has donated nearly $300 million to organizations and causes since opening the Gaming Enterprise in the 1990s and has contributed millions more to regional governments and infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer systems, and emergency services.

About Honoring Nations
Honoring Nations is the flagship program of The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a member of a worldwide family of “governmental best practices” awards programs.