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TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation will lend Cherokee Nation Industries as much as $1.5 million to see them through a short-term cash flow problem. The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council’s Executive and Finance committee voted 10 to 1 to lend CNI the money during a special meeting Wednesday night. The full Council is expected to approve of the loan in a special meeting called by Principal Chief Chad Smith for Friday.

The Cherokee Nation will lend CNI $1 million, with another $500,000 in financing contingent on CNI’s ability to work with suppliers to reduce inventory. The committee also asked that CNI conduct a nationwide, ninety-day search for a replacement for its departing president. The $1.5 million will come from unallocated surplus funds and will not affect the funding level of any program in the Cherokee Nation’s annual budget.

The Council received a proposal from Smith outlining the loan plan last Thursday, and worked late into the evening Wednesday reaching a compromise.

"We were able to negotiate a resolution that will get CNI out of its short-term cash flow difficulties", Smith said. "It just makes good business sense. CNI is a profitable enterprise with annual profits averaging nearly $1 million over the past four years. Despite some reports, this vote shows that the Cherokee Nation knows that CNI is a healthy business with tremendous profit potential."

CNI’s problems stem from the unexpected downturn within the entire telecommunications industry over the past few months. Over the past four years, CNI’s sales have grown from $20 million to $70 million.

"We cannot walk away from an asset that large and that productive, especially considering that it also provides nearly 160 jobs", Smith said. "Those employees are CNI’s greatest asset. They have more loyalty to their company and more dedication to making it succeed than employees at any other business I’ve ever seen. Some have proposed that we turn our backs on CNI and it’s employees during their time of need, but with this overwhelming vote the Cherokee Nation is standing strongly behind these employees and the valuable asset they have created. We have not turned our back on CNI during this difficult time."