Bringing technology-based economic development to the Navajo Nation

More than 140,000 Indigenous people populate the Navajo Nation, the largest reservation in the United States that is comparable in size to the state of West Virginia. In this land of world-renowned scenic wonders stretching across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, unemployment is rampant at a rate of 48.5%, and 35% of its people live in poverty. One of the key goals of the newly elected president of the Navajo Nation is to create at least 10,000 high-paying jobs for tribal members.

With an innovative plan to spur economic growth in the region, principal investigators from ASU and Navajo Technical University have launched a pilot program to distribute microfactories and technology centers in the Navajo Nation. The program is designed to enable rural tribal communities to participate in supply chain operations in the Southwest’s rapidly growing space industry in a manner consistent with community values.

NTU’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing will serve as the hub of a network of advanced manufacturing sites, equipped with state-of-the-art technology by the ASU School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Meanwhile, the Global Center for Technology Transfer at ASU will establish legal, entrepreneurial and managerial frameworks that will facilitate translational research between ASU and NTU, as well as the contracting process with prospective industry partners.