BizLibrary honored Edie Ingram with its ‘Training Professional of the Year’ award. Ingram, Manager of Training and Organization Development at the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK), helped spearhead the launch of the company’s corporate university.

“It was quite a surprise to actually win the award and I am thrilled,” Ingram said of the honor. 

The BizLibrary Awards honor companies and individuals who exemplify creativity, results-oriented thinking, and show great enthusiasm for learning and development. According to BizLibrary, the ‘Training Professional of the Year’ is awarded to someone who is progressive in thinking around training and development, an experienced professional, engaged in outside training associations, enthusiastic about training, and is constantly looking to improve and achieve results.

Ingram this year developed Wyandotte YOUniversity, which graduated its first two classes this past spring at River Bend Casino & Hotel in Wyandotte, Okla., and 7^th Street Casino in Kansas City, and was also a top three finalist for BizLibrary’s ‘Program of the Year.’

“As a company, we have many great ideas,” said WTOK CEO Kelly Carpino. “Too often, great ideas are lost in failure to execute. With Edie's leadership and hard work, Wyandotte YOUniversity, did not become one of those lost great ideas. Quite the contrary, the program is a great success.”

The Brandon Hall Group recently recognized Wyandotte YOUniversity for its Bronze Award for ‘Best Launch of a Corporate University.’ Ingram played a huge part in the launch of the university.

“I want to recognize and thank Edie for her commitment and hard work to make this happen. While I know what the program means for us, I am so pleased to see Wyandotte Youniversity receive acknowledgement from Brandon Hall Group,” Carpino said. “This happened because of Edie's dedication to our organization, our people and our values. So well deserved. Many thanks to Edie for working to develop, inspire and motivate our team!”

Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK), the federally-recognized corporation of the Wyandotte Nation, and BizLibrary, won a coveted Brandon Hall Group Bronze Award for Excellence in the Best Launch of a Corporate University category.   

Wyandotte YOUniversity is a four-year leadership development program. The purpose of Wyandotte YOUniversity’s Leadership Development Program is to prepare employees for current and future leadership roles by providing a structured program of study of essential leadership competencies.

“There is nothing more rewarding than to see employees gain confidence in themselves and recognize their own worth and potential,” said Edie Ingram, WTOK’s Manager of Training and Organization Development. “When this happens positive business results ensue.”

Award entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group analysts and executives based upon the following criteria: fit the need, design of the program, functionality, innovation and overall measurable benefits. 

“Organizations around the world highly value Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards – so much so that we received a record number of applications in the middle of a global pandemic,” said Rachel Cooke, Brandon Hall Group COO, and leader of the HCM Excellence Awards Program. “The awards provide valuable recognition and validation of best practices in all areas of HCM at a time when they have never been more important to both employers and employees.”

Excellence Awards winners will be honored at Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Excellence Conference, Jan. 26-28, 2021, at the Hilton West Palm Beach, Fla.

“The Excellence Awards serve the critical function of reinforcing the essential business benefit of creating great experiences for candidates and employees,” Brandon Hall Group CEO Mike Cooke said. “All award winners must demonstrate that their HCM programs drive bottom-line business results. That’s what sets our awards program apart from all others.”

The Wyandotte YOUniversity program begins with Motive Matters, which includes a personality assessment that provides growth in self-awareness and relationship building.  The program includes classroom training facilitated by Ingram. Outside speakers also provide classroom training. The program provides on-demand online access to over 14,000 online training videos that address topics important to leaders in today’s workforce.

The goals in the program are:

• Identify members with potential to become leaders and invest in their professional growth and development;
• Provide these high potential leaders with skills required to step into leadership positions;
• Energize and grow Strong leadership at all levels of the business;
• Increase the future leaders’ knowledge of leadership qualities, techniques and the business/profession.

By William Swaim / WTOK

Wyandotte YOUniversity graduated its first classes of employees at River Bend Casino & Hotel in Wyandotte and 7^th Street Casino in Kansas City recently. Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK) celebrated their accomplishments Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the River Bend Casino & Hotel and March 3 at 7^th Street.

The graduates from River Bend included Tara Martinez, Lori Clark, Kristia Fox, Melissa Asaro, Carrie Sargent, Joanna Hadley, and Shirley Mangold.

“When someone completes four years of college or four years of training on the job, all it does is strengthen the team, and makes us better at what we do day in and day out,” said River Bend Casino & Hotel General Manager Gary Johnson at the ceremony. “We’ve invested in you and hopefully you have invested in yourself, and those two things put together make a great team.”

The graduates from 7^th Street included John Maxwell, Larry Anderson, Kelsie Dice, Mica Chambers, Anna Salzano, and Kim Bary.

“It has been a pleasure working and learning with the 7^th Street team for the past four years of this training program,” said Edie Ingram, Manager of Training and Organization Development. “They take training serious and were willing to go above and beyond what was asked of them.” 

The graduates of Wyandotte YOUniversity completed a four-year leadership development program. The purpose of Wyandotte YOUniversity’s Leadership Development Program is to prepare employees for current and future leadership roles by providing a structured program of study of essential leadership competencies.

“Our purpose is to provide training and develop leaders and to equip those same leaders with tools to become better leaders and to empower them to lead once they complete our program,” said Ingram. “I am so excited about where we are now with this program.”

The program begins with Motive Matters, which includes a personality assessment that provides growth in self-awareness and relationship building.  The program includes classroom training facilitated by Edie Ingram, Manager of Training and Organizations Development. Outside speakers also provide classroom training. The program provides on-demand online access to over 14,000 online training videos that address topics important to leaders in today’s workforce.

The goals in the program are:

• Identify members with potential to become leaders and invest in their professional growth and development;
• Provide these high potential leaders with skills required to step into leadership positions;
• Energize and grow Strong leadership at all levels of the business;
• Increase the future leaders’ knowledge of leadership qualities, techniques and the business/profession.

Graduates of the program must complete four years of training with a 100 percent attendance rate as well as completing 100 percent of the online assignments.  

By William Swaim | WTOK

After constructing many walls and rearranging offices over the past 41 years, the Wyandotte Nation will have a new building to call home as the Tribe broke ground Thursday, Sept. 26, on its new Administration Building.

“It’s a great day, it’s a great day for us, it’s a great day for the Wyandotte Nation, and I just want to say thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting,” said Wyandotte Nation Chief Billy Friend to a crowd of onlookers. “It is something we have dreamed about for a long time, and now it is going to become a reality for us -- we are looking forward to it.”

While the Tribe will say goodbye to the old building, which was built and dedicated in 1978, it isn’t going anywhere. The old administration building will be remodeled and become the new Judicial Building, housing the Wyandotte Nation court system and Wyandotte Nation Tribal Police Department (WNTPD). Chief Friend said it will be a good move for them as well being just off the highway.

The new Administration Building, located just south of the Bearskin Healthcare & Wellness Center, will house the offices of the Administration, Family Services and Gaming Commission.

“It was always our goal to eventually get up here on the hill and begin to fill out everything up here as we have been doing,” Chief Friend said. “We have been growing, we’ve been able to do a lot of things. We are very thankful today to be breaking ground on this new building and looking forward to the future.”

Chief Friend related a story to having fewer than 10 employees in the early days of the administration building to having more than 100 tribal government employees today.

“The ultimate goal for us is to improve the quality of life for our tribal citizens and everything that we do is geared toward that,” he said. “It allows us to provide better services, more efficient services, and everything we do is serving the citizens of our tribal nation.”

Chief Friend thanked the Board of Directors on hand, Juanita McQuistion, Vivian Fink, Ramona Reid and Second Chief Norman Hildebrand. He also thanked all of the employees on the government side as well as Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK), which is the federally-chartered corporation of the Tribe and drives economic development.

The project is completely financed using tribal funds and not federal dollars.

“All the money we are using on this is generated by our economic development, so we are appreciative of all the work that WTOK does – our casinos, the Turtle Stops, Wyandotte Precision Products, Wyandotte Technologies and all of our projects we do on that side to help fund this project,” Chief Friend said. “Not having to use any federal dollars, it says a lot about where we are as a tribal nation.”

There is no official timeline for the completion of the project, although construction is set to begin in early November.

Crossland Construction is the general contractor for the project. CGA Architects produced the building concept.

FABICash donated $20,000 to the Wyandotte Nation Wednesday, March 20, 2019. FABICash Sales Account Executive Nick Rabito presented the check to Wyandotte Nation Chief Billy Friend in the Sandusky Conference Room at River Bend Casino & Hotel.

Rabito said FABICash gives back to its partners every year, donating money for its partners to use toward charity or educational purposes. FABICash provides casinos and their patrons secure and convenient access to cash.

Chief Friend said the Tribe will use the funds toward a trip and celebration in September later this year where the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church will be presenting the deed of the Wyandot Mission Church property to the Wyandotte Nation.

Also on hand for the presentation were River Bend Casino & Hotel General Manager Gary Johnson, River Bend Casino & Hotel Controller Carla King, and Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK) CEO Kelly Carpino, as well as several River Bend employees.

Photos  by  William Swaim / Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma

Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK) CEO Kelly Carpino recognized several employees for their years of service recently at a luncheon and presented them with gifts for all their hard work. Debbie Johnson, Payroll Supervisor, was recognized for her 25 years of service as well as Wyandotte tribal citizen Dalana Rutledge, Accounting Manager, for her 20 years of service.

WTOK CEO Kelly Carpino presents Payroll Supervisor Debbie Johnson with a specially designed clock for her 25 years of service.

Article from Wyandotte Daily (www.wyandottedaily.com). Published with permission.

Preserving the future of their past has been one of the themes of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, according to Chief Billy Friend.

As part of that historical preservation effort, today the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma presented the Wyandotte County Museum a check for $10,000. The museum is located at 126th and State Avenue inside the Wyandotte County Park at Bonner Springs.

Friend said one of his goals as a tribal leader is to make sure the next generations of the Wyandotte Nation know their history. For the past 10 years or more, he has brought busloads of Wyandottes to the museum to learn about their history, he said.

The Wyandottes were here primarily from 1843 through 1867, when the group split and some of the Wyandotte Nation moved to Oklahoma.

“This is an important part of our history,” Friend said. The period of 1843 through 1867 also was an important part of the history of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, and included the Civil War years. Those 24 years had a strong effect on the tribe, and there was a split in the Wyandotte Nation that occurred during those years, he said.

“Thank you for all you have done in helping us preserve the future of our past,” Friend said in presenting the check today.

The donation of $10,000 was presented on behalf of the tribe and the 7th Street Casino, which is located in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, at 7th and Ann Avenue.

Mayor David Alvey, who received the check with Museum Director Trish Schurkamp, expressed his thanks to Chief Friend and the Wyandotte Nation.

The circumstances that brought the Wyandottes to this area were not happy, and were fairly brutal, Alvey said, but “sometimes great things come from that, and your presence here now and your friendship here now is a great thing.”

“Today we are being honored by the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma and Chief Billy Friend,” Schurkamp said. Over the past years, the friendship that the museum and the Wyandotte Nation has built has prided itself on honesty, trust and stability, she said.

By William Swaim, Communications Specialist, Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma

Wyandotte Precision Products has been working toward ISO 9001:2015 Certification the last six years, and thanks to hard work and a complete team effort over the last year, achieved ISO certification.

ISO 9001 certification is intended to improve management performance at companies. The main part of achieving certification is forming a Quality Management System (QMS). Certification gets a company’s QMS recognized globally. ......

To read the full article, CLICK HERE!

About Wyandotte Precision Products:

Wyandotte Precision Products brings an experienced blend of design, machining, manufacturing and machine build capabilities. WPP has committed our company to providing highly engineered quality products. Our experienced and dedicated machinist can produce, reproduce, design, engineer, and reverse engineer nearly anything from a drawing, part, broken part, or even an idea. We have successfully made replacement parts for everything from bottling machines and turkey choppers, to aluminum extruders and explosives mixers. 

To find out more, visit www.wppok.com.

Wyandotte Services, a 100 percent tribally-owned 8(a) certified Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) company that is operated and managed within the federal charted corporation of the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma (WTOK), is pleased to announce it has been awarded the STARS II Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) during its Open Season period.

Wyandotte Services, a 100 percent tribally-owned, SBA Certified 8(a) company is pleased to announce it has secured a $15.8 million contract with Western Area Power Administration in the Sierra Nevada Region to provide Technical Support Services that began November 2015.

“This is a great opportunity for Wyandotte Services to continue their excellence in providing Technical Support Services once again to Western Area Power Administration,” said Jennie Boone, Program Manager. “The Wyandotte team at SNR is excited to provide their tremendous value and exceptional expertise across the many disciplines supporting Westerns mission to provide reliable efficient energy to their customers across the west.”

Wyandotte Services is responsible for providing drafting, telecommunications engineering, engineering project management, GIS, technical support and document services.

The new Turtle Stop in Grove, Okla., became the latest addition to the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma’s (WTOK) portfolio of businesses. WTOK is the economic development arm of the Wyandotte Nation.
The new Turtle Stop, a 4,248-square foot 24-hour full service convenience store located on US Hwy 59, offers fuel for those needing a fill up in the high traffic area near Grand Lake as well as the usual convenience store items, hot/cold drinks, and features Bellarico’s Toasted Subs, New York Style Pizza and Breakfast Sandwiches.
“We see this as a great economic venture for our Tribe; one that will contribute to the mission of our Tribe to help improve the quality of life for every tribal citizen,” said Wyandotte Nation Chief Billy Friend. “The majority of our tribal benefits come from revenues provided through economic development. I want to commend our team at WTOK for continuing to find ways to further diversify our portfolio of businesses.”
The store, which had been vacant for several years, was purchased in August 2014 and received a complete makeover inside and out.
Kristy Howard is the manager of the new Turtle Stop.

Wyandotte Services has secured a $19 million contract to provide Technical Security Support Services for the Department of Energy’s (DoE) Oak Ridge Office in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Wyandotte Services is a 100-percent tribally-owned, SBA Certified 8(a) company and an established supplier of technical support services. Wyandotte’s highly qualified personnel will implement security programs that protect staff, information, technology, facilities, and the public. 

Wyandotte Services is pleased to announce it has secured a contract on the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule 70, one of the most widely used government acquisition vehicles. This contract allows the company to bid on thousands of Information Technology Professional Service contracts offered exclusively through Schedule 70.

The National Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference is the nation's premier event for minority businesses and the public and private sectors.

Showing her support for minority-owned enterprises within the state of Oklahoma, Governor Mary Fallin signed a proclamation supporting August 26th through 30th, 2013 as “Minority Enterprise Development Week” in Oklahoma.