American Indians own 1,145 Utah firms

No matter what the venue, Marcy Arrowchis often finds herself proving that "it's OK to be well-rounded."

When she's working the Uinta Basin oil fields, Arrowchis is often seen as too feminine. When she's coaching cheerleaders, she's seen as too rough.

"I encourage the high school girls to be strong, independent and also feminine," said Arrowchis.

It's a balancing act Arrowchis performs on a daily basis as a woman, member of the Ute tribe and co-owner, with her husband Brad Christensen, of Brad's Oilfield Service Inc. The couple also owns a cattle farm.

The business was one of 1,145 owned by American Indian or Alaska natives in Utah in 2002, accounting for nearly $81.3 million in revenue, according to an Economic Census report released Tuesday.

Some 1,017 Utahns were employed by 176 firms with a total payroll of $15.7 million, according to the report, "Survey of Business Owners: American Indian and Alaska Native-Owned Firms: 2002."

Nationally, there were 201,387 companies owned by American Indian or Alaska natives, according to the report, with revenues totaling $26.9 billion.

Nearly three in 10 of these firms, like Brad's Oilfield Service, operated in construction or other services, such as personal services or repairs and maintenance. In Utah, the top two industries were construction and retail trade, together accounting for just over 30 percent of the American Indian or Alaska native-owned firms.

When asked to describe her company, Arrowchis says "we go in and do the dirty jobs" from maintenance to oil spill clean-up to construction.

Since the couple started the company about a decade ago, it has grown to 23 to 30 employees at any given time, and as many as 10 subcontractors.

About two years ago, Arrowchis opted to quit her U.S. Department of Agriculture job, working with tribes, to become a full-time business owner.

"For me it was personal," she said. "You want to see tribes succeed."

The census report showed a decline in the number of businesses nationally and in Utah since 1997.

However, the number of businesses probably didn't actually decline, said Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. That's because businesses owned by a tribal entity were included in the 1997 report, but they were counted separately as government-owned in 2002 and not included in the report, Spendlove said.

Forrest Cuch, director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, said anecdotal evidence suggests the number of businesses likely has increased.

Spendlove said he wasn't familiar with American Indian-owned businesses specifically, but he did say, "Every other minority group saw increases, and that would be consistent."

The report is one of a series of releases from the 2002 Economic Census, which combines survey data from a sample of more than 2.4 million businesses. It includes firms in which American Indians or Alaska natives own 51 percent or more of the stock or equity of the business.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com