Blue Stone Strategy Partners

Which venture would you fund first?

Most Nations already hold the pieces to diversify: sovereign tax authority, existing clinics, Tribally owned land and buildings. The hard part is deciding what to build first, and in what order.

At NCAI 2026, Blue Stone is hosting Diversify to Endure: Building Revenue the Nation Controls, a working session for Tribal leaders, economic development boards, and health directors.

We'll put real concept models side by side. A $100,000 sovereign tax implementation is projected to return $38.5 million over five years, and a $50 million waterpark takes 12 years to pay back. You'll see why the order matters.

You'll leave with:
→ A stage-gate framework for screening every venture against your Nation's values
→ A roadmap for growing health revenue from coverage you already have
→ The owner-side questions to settle before any groundbreaking

📅 Sunday, Oct. 18 | 3:00 – 5:30 PM
📍 NCAI 2026 Annual Convention

Register here: https://hubs.li/Q04zh2JH0

Twenty years ago, Jamie Fullmer and John Mooers founded Blue Stone Strategy Partners with a commitment to stand with Tribal Leaders and support the priorities of their Nations.

Since then, Blue Stone has worked with more than 250 Tribal Nations on over 1,000 projects. Behind those numbers are relationships built on trust and Nations taking action to shape their futures.

In a letter to our relatives, friends, and partners, Chairman Jamie Fullmer reflects on where Blue Stone began, the partnerships that have shaped our work, and what it means to walk alongside Tribal Nations as they express their sovereignty on their own terms.

To our Tribal Partners, past and present: thank you.

Read Jamie’s full letter: https://bit.ly/4zeS4z1

The new federal fiscal year starts today, and the first Tribal-specific deadlines are only weeks away.

Coming up in the next 90 days:

- Oct 15: DOJ Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, up to $5.6M
- Oct 21: Tribal Justice Training and Technical Assistance, up to $1.8M
- Nov 13: Native American Library Services grants
- Nov 17: Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and Commerce's Native Entities Grant Program
- More than a dozen forecasted Indian Health Service programs

The October edition of our 90-Day Funding Outlook covers federal and state opportunities open to Tribal Nations, with the Tribal-specific ones highlighted.

Sign up to get it every month: https://bit.ly/3TCxeu5

Congratulations to Michael Henio, winner of our booth drawing at NNAHRA in Hawaii!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to talk about the HR work happening across Indian Country: hiring and keeping good people, building pay systems that are fair and hold up over time, and getting leadership teams aligned on where they're headed.

Those conversations are the best part of NNAHRA. Tribal HR teams are working on hard problems, and they're the ones solving them.

If we didn't get to talk at the booth, let's set up a time. Send us a message or visit https://bit.ly/3TymGw0.

A monthly report full of numbers doesn't tell a Tribal Council whether the property is getting better.

Our Gaming Performance Optimization Program does. It measures five areas against regional and national benchmarks: player database and loyalty, slot floor and hotel revenue, amenities, operating costs and staffing, and technology. Each quarter, Tribal Leaders and casino executives get one scorecard showing what moved, what didn't and why.

Jake Robinson, our Chief Strategy Officer, and Imran Khan, one of our gaming subject matter experts, are at at the Venetian Expo through tomorrow. Find them on the floor, or book time October 5–9 once you're home. Bring last quarter's numbers, and they'll show you where the program would start at your property.

Book a conversation: https://hubs.li/Q04yK4Lt0

Tribal employers are hiring now. Can your college show which of those jobs your graduates are ready for?

Our free Workforce Development Readiness Assessment takes 10 minutes. It has 20 questions across five areas:

- Know your labor market
- Employer demand and partnerships
- Academic alignment
- Pre-apprenticeship and Adult Education
- Certifications and outcomes

Your score shows where you stand: Exploring, Building, or Aligned. It also shows your three biggest gaps.

Then bring those gaps to our webinar, Designing Tribal Apprenticeships to Meet Demand for Local Talent, with Dr. Alexandria Wright. It's on Wednesday, October 14, at 9:00 AM Pacific on Zoom. We're holding time in the Q&A to work through them.

Take the assessment by October 13: https://hubs.li/Q04yyMkR0
Register: https://hubs.li/Q04yyMn70

Congratulations to NNAHRA on 30 years!

Taryn Reynolds and Elena Chavez are at the 30th Annual Conference this week. If you're there, stop by the Blue Stone booth and say hello.

Jake Robinson and Imran Khan are at G2E in Las Vegas this week, through October 1 at the Venetian Expo.

Jake, our Chief Strategy Officer, and Imran, one of our subject matter experts, are meeting with Tribal gaming leaders about what's moving performance right now. That includes player database health, slot floor and hotel revenue, amenity planning, and staffing costs.

If you're at the show, find them. If you'd rather talk after you're home, book time with the team here:https://hubs.li/Q04ysrYX0

Taryn Reynolds and Elena Chavez land in Honolulu Monday. Find them at booth #50 at NNAHRA's 30th Annual Conference, September 28–30.

Two sessions next week:

Monday, September 28 | 1:15–2:15 PM | Nautilus Suite
Where Sovereignty Meets the Workplace
Taryn joins Dr. Crystal Miller, CEO of Sovereignty First Native Consulting Firm, on the Next Level Leadership track. Sovereignty isn't only a legal principle. HR leaders live it in everyday workplace decisions. This session ties law and policy to those decisions and gives practical guidance for people practices that are compliant, culturally aligned, and human. It's for HR directors, leaders, and employees in Tribal governments and gaming enterprises.

Tuesday, September 29 | 1:15–2:15 PM | Hibiscus Suite
More Than a Stipend: Tribal Council Roles, Responsibilities, and the HR Perspective
Leadership can change without costing you institutional knowledge, workforce stability, or employee trust. Taryn and Elena walk through how HR keeps that continuity through elections and administration changes while respecting each new leader's authority. A restructuring case study covers policy design, decision checkpoints, onboarding new elected leaders, and getting HR in the room before decisions reach employees. It's for Tribal elected leaders, HR leaders, administrators, and department heads.

The rest of the time, they're at the booth. Booth conversations get interrupted, so they're holding 30-minute slots for the issues that need real time:

- An investigation, discipline case, or termination you want to handle defensibly before it becomes a Council matter
- A pay structure you can defend to Council and to staff (Elena's specialty)
- Personnel policies that hold up under Tribal law and that managers will actually use
- Where HR sits in the organization and what it should own
- Keeping the workforce steady through an election or administration change

Between them, Taryn and Elena bring 41 years of Tribal HR experience. Both hold Tribal Human Resources Professional certification.

Conference slots are filling. If the week in Honolulu is too packed, they have openings October 5–9, once everyone is home.

Book 30 minutes: https://hubs.li/Q04y6NHZ0

Blue Stone Strategy Partners is at NAFOA Fall today and tomorrow at Pueblo of Pojoaque.

Melanie Benjamin, our Tribal Advisor and VP of Government Relations and Engagement, is on site at Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder through September 22. Melanie served four terms as Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, so the budget conversations happening this week are ones she has led from the Council side.

It is a hard year to run a Tribal finance office. The FY27 request would cut BIA by more than a third. SLFRF has to be spent by December 31. The general welfare rule takes effect January 1. Two billion in Tribal energy funding is gone.

None of that is a reason to wait. If any of this is on your desk, find Melanie and talk it through:

→ Budgeting around a $744M BIA cut and the next shutdown
→ The two Treasury rules: general welfare documentation and direct-pay energy credits for Tribal entities
→ Closing out SLFRF and the new Uniform Guidance thresholds
→ Revenue that does not ride on one sector
→ Enterprise governance and the SBA 8(a) audit

Not at NAFOA? Schedule time with our team after the conference: https://hubs.li/Q04xYpY80