Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - 32

The

25 to Watch

NAVAJO TRANSITIONAL ENERGY COMPANY ➽ navajo-tec.com

Coal, operates Navajo Mine on behalf of NTEC.
And while NTEC has just 11 employees, the
mine employs nearly 360 people, 80 percent of
them Navajo, with a combined payroll of
approximately $47 million.
One of NTEC's employees is Sam Woods.
After graduating from New Mexico State
University in electrical engineering, Woods

he Navajo Mine, in operation since
1963, is one of the largest surface mining
operations in the country, supplying coal to the
Four Corners Power Plant. In 2013 the Navajo
Nation created Navajo Transitional Energy
Company (NTEC) to purchase the Navajo
Mine, located south of Farmington, N.M. Today
Bisti Fuels, a subsidiary of North American

worked in large engineering procurement
projects, natural gas, and gold and silver
processing plants in five states, from Oregon
to Indiana. "I knew at some point I would
come back home and help our people," he
says. And in 2006 he returned to work for the
Navajo Nation.
He helped negotiate large land lease deals
and put together the Navajo Energy Policy to
ensure energy efficiency for the Navajo
people. "From that policy NTEC was created,"
he says, with a mission that goes beyond the
safe production of coal. The company aims to
diversify the Nation's energy resources and
create economic and environmental
sustainability for the Navajo people. Carrying
out that mission includes working with
colleges and several communities. "We have a
geoplant project in Tohatchi, a localized
community nexus," Woods says. "We're
starting with a greenhouse, utilizing nearby
hot springs, to help the community market
organic vegetables."

SYMBIOTIC AQUAPONIC
Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community
LOCATION: Prior Lake, Minn.
FIELD: Philanthropy
➽ shakopeedakota.org

Shasta Administrative
Services
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde
LOCATION: Redmond, Ore.
FIELD: Health care administration
➽ shastatpa.com

Tule River Aero-Industries
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Tule River Tribe
LOCATION: Porterville, Calif.
FIELD: Aviation services
➽ tredc.org/aero.htm

hat goes around comes around" might
be a good motto for Symbiotic
Aquaponic. This family business sees the
great circle of life as a way to thrive financially while paying homage to the Choctaw
Nation of Oklahoma.
"We build water-recirculation
systems in which both fish and
plants are raised," explains CEO
and President Kaben Smallwood. "The
wastewater from fish, such as tilapia, catfish,
goldfish, koi, perch, and minnows, provides
nutrients for plants. In return, the plants
remove excess nitrates from the water, sending
it back clean to the fish."
Based in Talihina in eastern Oklahoma,
the venture benefits from the strong bonds
between Kaben and his brother Shelby, the
company's project manager and chief
engineer. Shelby designed the 37 systems
Symbiotic Aquaponic has built in six states
for diverse customers ranging
from community colleges and
the Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma to backyard hobbyists
and 4-H clubs.
"Our goal is to make
aquaponics more accessible to
Kaben
Native peoples," says Kaben.

Smallwood

32 WINDS OF CHANGE * FALL 2017

➽

symbioticaquaponic.com

"We're working on lowering price points and
the footprints of systems to remove barriers to
entry for tribes and consumers."
Like so many successful entrepreneurial
enterprises, the company got its start by chance.
After earning a JD/MBA at
Oklahoma City University,
Kaben took the state bar exam.
Knowing it would take weeks
before he would learn whether or not he
passed, he read a lot, including a book on
aquaponics gardening. "Shelby and I grew up
learning traditional farming techniques from
our grandfather," he recalls. "To make a bad fish
joke, I got hooked and read the book cover to
cover in one day."
Turns out he really was hooked. "Right away,
I knew I wanted to start a company centered
around aquaponics. I knew I didn't have the
right mechanical skills, and I wasn't nearly
talented enough to achieve my goal alone. I
sought my brother Shelby's help,
and he became an equity
partner." Today both parents
work for their sons, as do more
than 20 other employees and
contractors.
The brothers' Choctaw
heritage stands front and center

aises.org

COURTESY OF NAVAJO TRANSITIONAL ENERGY (TOP); COURTESY OF SYMBIOTIC AQUAPONIC (BOTTOM AND FACING PAGE)

NTEC Business Manager Sam Woods
(left) discusses the Tohatchi Geothermal
Project with local Navajo leaders at
Tohatchi in the summer of 2016.

http://www.navajo-tec.com http://www.symbioticaquaponic.com http://www.shakopeedakota.org http://www.shastatpa.com http://www.tredc.org/aero.htm http://www.aises.org

Winds of Change - Fall 2017

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