By Joe Morey
News Editor
Local entrepreneur and LCO Tribal Member, Curtis DeCora, recently received the prestigious honor of being named one of Native American 40 Under 40 Award winner for 2020. Curtis is the owner of Superior Marketing.
DeCora has been involved in several projects here at LCO in recent years, including as consultant and primary marketer for the LCO Child Support Digital Marketing Grant.
"This was the first time ever a tribal program had received a 'special projects' grant from the office of child support," DeCora explained. "When I was part of the proposal as the consultant."
DeCora also helped Denny Reyes, manager at the Landing over the past two years with marketing and promoting. DeCora said Reyes reported in September having the most money in the bank ever, and was already booked up through August 2021 for cabins and RV park.
"I founded the Tribal Business League which is a 501(c)6 tribally-led, non-profit buying club, which LCO is part of. The TBL leverages the buying power between six tribes to negotiate deals between vendors of C-Store, grocery, cleaning supplies, paper products, and I'm in negotiations with DraftKings to bring sports betting lounges to our TBL member tribes whereas DraftKings provides a plug and play revenue producing lounge for us to take advantage of," DeCora said.
Original Announcement from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (The National Center)
The 2020 class of Native American 40 Under 40 award recipients has been announced. The Native American 40 Under 40 recognizes 40 emerging American Indian and Alaska Native leaders under the age of 40 from across the country. Nominated by their peers, the 2020 40 Under 40 winners have exemplified leadership, initiative, and, especially during COVID-19, resiliency and dedication towards their communities and businesses. This year's 40 Under 40 represent the best from academia, the medical field, government, non-profits, the legal field, and more. This year, the Native American 40 Under 40 award recipients will be announced virtually through the National Center’s social media pages in the coming weeks. Additionally, award recipients will be honored at RES 2021. The 2020 class joins well over 400 previous winners that have been honored over the last decade. The full list of 2020 40 Under 40 award recipients can be found below.
“The Native American 40 Under 40 awards recognize the hard-work, dedication, and perseverance of our best and brightest,” said National Center President and CEO Chris James. “Every year I am impressed by the wide range of accomplishments of our 40 Under 40 winners. The 2020 class shows us what young Native American and Alaska Native leaders are capable of – and what they are already accomplishing. Just as the 40 Under 40 honorees continually inspire all of us here at the National Center, we hope the award continues to inspire generations of Indian Country leaders who will one day be a part of this esteemed group.”