Pawhuska, OK, April 10, 2009: The Board of Directors of Osage LLC formally announced hiring Carol Leese as Chief Executive Officer of the corporation today. Mr. Leese, recently CEO of Potawatomi Business Development Corporation (PBDC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was chosen after a nationwide search.
“We are extraordinarily pleased to have Carol Leese to run our business,” said Chairman Charles F. Maker. “We sought someone with experience in Indian Country and a track record in business development. Carol brings both and comes with high praise from leading Indian businessmen.”
The Osage Nation passed legislation in 2008 to create the Osage LLC and distinguish it from the Nation’s government. One of the critical determinants of enterprise success in Indian Country is the degree to which its corporate charter separates business from politics, according to research conducted by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.
“I was impressed with the Osage Nation when I looked under the hood of the LLC,” said Mr. Leese. “The care and attention in the governing structure was plain, and speaks to the seriousness with which the Nation wants to treat investment. I will be proud to pitch the Osage LLC to people interested in betting with us on the Osage future.”
The LLC’s five-member board comprises Chairman Maker, Paul Bruce, Howard “Skip” Iba, Mary Elizabeth Ricketts, and Jonathan Taylor. Chairman Maker is an Expert Engineer for Agilent Technologies, Inc. (formerly Hewlett-Packard, Inc.) in Santa Rosa, CA. Mr. Bruce is a veteran petroleum engineer and most recently President of AMVEST Osage, Inc., which developed coalbed methane on and around the Osage Reservation. For 35 years Dr. Iba has practiced orthodontics and raised a family in Tulsa and has contributed to community life there by serving on several boards including the board of trustees for Holland Hall School and the Tulsa Sports Commission. Ms. Ricketts serves as Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the Osage Tribe and in the Pawhuska I-lon-schka Committee. Mr. Taylor is a consulting economist specializing in American Indian economic development and a research affiliate of Harvard University and the University of Arizona.
Mr. Leese brings more than twenty years of business development experience to the Osage LLC. Most recently, Leese served as CEO of the Forest County Potawatomi’s PBDC. While at PBDC, Leese was instrumental in the acquisition of five companies and grew revenues six fold annually from 2006-2009. The corporation started with one employee and now has close to 220 employees in 22 states.
Prior to joining PBDC, Mr. Leese served as CEO for the Absentee Shawnee Economic Development Authority in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Before working with Native nations, Leese worked as President of a dot-com company in the gaming industry. In addition, he has 13 years of experience in the healthcare industry working with emergency room physicians. Leese holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Masters of Business Administration from Oklahoma City University.
Osage LLC is a wholly owned corporation of the Osage Nation formed to diversify the Nation’s economic investments beyond gaming and to increase profitable employment on the Osage Indian Reservation and its environs.