Resilience in silver and stone: NACE refocuses on artisans, sustainability Part II
By Nicholas House
Navajo Times
TÓ ŁIZHIN, N.M. – After years of economic strain, market shifts and post-pandemic instability, Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise is making a course correction. Several storefronts have gone dark. Others remain under review. But the center is holding.
“What we’ve been doing over the past couple of years is sustaining and recapping all the occurrences that have happened with the Enterprise since before the pandemic, during the pandemic and results of post-pandemic activity,” said NACE CEO JT Wille of Crownpoint. “Now moving forward, a lot of our views have been based in renewing and refreshing ourselves as an entity.”
Established in 1941, NACE is one of the Navajo Nation’s oldest enterprises. Yet its size – and revenue – pale in comparison to powerhouses like Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Navajo Transitional Energy Company or Navajo Gaming.
“We’re also probably one of the smaller enterprises of the Navajo Nation,” Willie explained. “Our revenues are a lot smaller, and also our opportunities are minimal compared to some more energy-based entities.”
To read the full article, please see the May 1, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
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