Tribal Economic Development: Action is Needed to Better Understand the Extent of Federal Support

Historically, tribal communities have had higher rates of unemployment and poverty than other communities. The federal government administers multiple programs that can support economic development in these communities.

We identified 22 programs at 7 agencies that provide economic development assistance—e.g., grants or loans—to tribal governments and businesses. But these programs might be hard to identify or access, leaving tribal entities to miss out on valuable support.

Also, federal assistance totals for tribal entities are unknown because agencies don't analyze or report data for some programs.