The recently enacted Menominee Enterprise Community SubZone Committee was passed by Menominee legislative motion on October 19, 2000. This newly created committee is charged with the duty of approving all present and proposed Enterprise Community benchmarks. Menominee citizen participation remains a steadfast mission for the Office of Economic Development. Together with the Menominee interdepartmental planning team, the Northwoods NiiJii Enterprise Community Inc. is eyeing an attempt to enlist greater citizen empowerment within all three reservations With passage of the Year 2000 Menominee Enterprise Community Citizen Participation Plan, full citizen participation will soon become a reality.

Congressional mandates on citizen empowerment provide ample opportunity for the tribal members to participate in the decision-making process. Tribal members living in poverty in the three-reservation wide Enterprise Community fill the "planning and governing need" required by federal law. The recently submitted Menominee "benchmark" listing to the USDA-Rural Development includes 21 social and economic development initiatives. All benchmark reviews involve a perfunctory amendment process by the Menominee EC SubZone Committee with concurrence by the Economic Development Ad Hoc Task Force Committee. Officially endorsed Enterprise Community benchmarks are then included on to the National Benchmark Registry.