Spears Business organizes the 3. Annual tribal summit with recording visit

Monday, March 17, 2025

Media contact: Stephen Howard | Director of Marketing and Communication | 405-744-4363 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu

The Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association organized their third annual tribal summit on March 6 and attracted a record 286 registrants.

Tribal leaders and business people gathered in the WES WATKINS Center on the Stillwater Campus to achieve meetings on tribal management, personnel development, casinos and business development, economic development as well as agriculture and food sovereignty.

At the tribal summit there were 50 speakers and moderators who represented tribal nations in Oklahoma and experts who work with tribes and tribal companies in the state and outside the state. The participants represented 23 indigenous tribes and 60 casinos, tribal companies or other organizations. The participants traveled from 44 cities in Oklahoma, while representatives and speakers from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas came.

OIGA has teamed up with Spears Business since the first tribal summit three years ago. The chairman of Oiga, Matthew Morgan, and the Osu Spears Tribal steering committee contributed to the recruitment of tribal leaders for the event.

“The tribal summit not only organizes tribes, but also tribes so that they can discuss challenges and derive solutions for the problems that are faced with discussions in the meetings,” said Morgan.

The OSU interior president Jim Hess welcomed the participants of the tribal summit. Dr. Hess noticed that OSU has one of the largest student indigenous people of a land grant university. In the spring of 2025, more than 3,445 students from the American indigenous people are enrolled.

Almost 800 students from the American Native are enrolled at Spears Business. Dr. James Payne, Dean of Spear Business, noticed the importance of tribal nations and economic development in Oklahoma.

“We founded the Osu Spears Tribal Steering Committee, which contributed to the creation of the tribal summit, and we believe that this summit makes a difference to the tribes to offer an event location for further business education and networking,” said Payne.

2019 Die Native impact study in Oklahoma reported over the entire economic effects of tribes in the state as 15.6 billion US dollars. In 2024, the participation of the American indigenous people in Oklahomas has reached their highest percentage in the past 20 years and has increased since 2021 Federal Reserve Bank.

The tribal summit was shown in the morning and afternoon sessions, which dealt with a variety of topics that affect tribal business. The first general meeting in the morning was “Leadership votes: tribal business in a changing landscape”, which highlighted effective stories and tribal leaders from all over Oklahoma and emphasized the best practice and a future -oriented way of thinking.

Morgan enabled the committee with the guests Ben Blosch, Chief Investment Officer from Cherokee Nation Business. Dan Boren, Minister of Commerce, Chickasaw Nation; Chief Billy Freund, Wyandotte Nation; Heidi Grant, Senior Executive Officer – Commerce, Choctaw Nation; And Chairman Jacob Keyes, Oklahoma's Iowa tribe.

The Spears Business Assistant Dean Dr. Marc Tower facilitated the second general morning meeting “Tribal Leadership: Planning for the Future”, which dealt with the sustainability of the Oklahoma tribes. The panel showed Lt. Governor Chris Anoatubby, Chickasaw Nation; Chairman Rocky Barrett, Citizen Potawatomi Nation; Main chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, Osage Nation; and keyes.

The Panel moderators for the Breakout sessions in the afternoon included the Province of Chris, the player -performance group; Emmanuel Bezzell, Muscogee Nation Gaming Enterprises; and Spears Business Administrators Dr. Marlys Mason and Tower.

Dr. Rodney Holcomb, deputy director of Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center of OSU, was supported by coordinating agriculture and food sovereignty. Carly Griffith Hotvedt, initiative for indigenous food and agriculture; and Janie Simms Hipp, CEO by Native Agriculture Financial Services; Also served as moderators of the afternoon sessions.

The tribal summit received support from the following sponsors.

Premier sponsor

Lunch sponsors

• The Muscogee Nation
• Player performance group

Facilities and park sponsor

Sponsors break

• Ost -Shawnee -strain from Oklahoma
• Indigo Sky Casino and Resort
• The Muscogee Nation Gaming Enterprises

Breakfast sponsor

Exhibition stands sponsors

• Indigenous initiative of indigenous food and agriculture
• Energy resources of the next era
• Sovereign bank
• Tinker Federal Credit Union

The next trunk summit is available for March 2026. Visit the Spears Business Website to learn more about the tribal summit and other resources for tribal nations.