Top 10 Native entrepreneurs

Inc. Ranks Top 10 American Indian EntrepreneursInc. recently spotlighted its list of the Top 10 American Indian Entrepreneurs for 2010, included in the magazine’s Inc. 500|5000, an annual ranking of the “fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States,” rated according to percentage revenue growth from 2006 through 2009. Inc. publishes the top 500 revenue-growing businesses from its applicant base each year in its September issue, which included two American Indian entrepreneurs last year.

The top 10 American Indian-run companies include a range of industries from human resources, to construction, to government services—“the fastest-growing industry sector by number of firms on the list,” according to Inc. 5000 project manager Jim Melloan.Comment:  Do people know that Indians can own companies? That they can be entrepreneurs? For the most part, no.

If you asked people to guess the CEOs' ethnicity based on the photos, I'd bet they'd never guess right. They'd give up after 10 or 20 or 50 guesses without guessing "American Indian." It wouldn't occur to them in a million years that a cleancut Indian in a suit and tie could own a nationally recognized company.

For more on the subject, see First Native Company on Stock Exchange and Cherokee Nation's Entrepreneurship Day.

Below:  What, no feathers and leathers?! "Kevin Novotny, CSI Oklahoma. Ranked No. 306 on the Inc. 500, Novotny tops Inc.’s list of American Indian entrepreneurs in 2010." (Photo courtesy of CSI Oklahoma)