Press Releases
January 17, 2008
Turtle Mountain Bank First of Its Kind, Conrad Says
Senator, Business and Community Leaders Cut Ribbon
Belcourt – Flanked by Native American community and business leaders, Senator Kent Conrad cut the ribbon on the Turtle Mountain State Bank today, noting the bank is the first of its kind in the nation.
The senator also said the bank will help deliver important financial services to Native Americans, including personal banking, insurance and business capital.
“This is the first privately-owned Native American bank in North Dakota. And, it is the first privately-owned Native American bank in the country to be located on reservation land,” said Senator Conrad, who serves on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “This is a landmark institution, and I want to thank the people who worked so hard to make it happen.”
Jim Laducer, one of the North Dakota’s premiere entrepreneurs and a Native American, owns and runs the bank. Laducer invited Senator Conrad to today’s grand opening celebration, which was also attended by Gov. John Hoeven and David Brien, Chairman of the Turtle Mountain Bank of Chippewa Indians.
“The U.S. Treasury reported in its 2002 lending study that only 14 percent of all Native American communities have a local bank. So we need more Jim Laducers, more great success stories, to open more banks and get more business onto the reservations,” Senator Conrad said. “This is a bottom-line business – but it is one that is good for the community. It creates jobs and it fills a need. It is a success already.”
