Jamul Indian Village refi deal wins a national award

Jamul Indian Village (JIV) of California was honored in late April with a prestigious national award from the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA). The Tribe was awarded the Business Impact Deal of the Year Award at the 16th Annual NAFOA Leadership Awards luncheon during the 41st Annual NAFOA Conference in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes JIV's trailblazing debt structure in refinancing construction costs of its casino, owned and operated by the Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC). The transaction reduced JIVDC's interest by over $30 million annually by allocating a portion of its high interest rate debt to a holding company until the entire debt could be converted to a conventional, low interest loan.

Erica M. Pinto, JIV chairwoman who also chairs the JIVDC Board, said the award is “a testament to the resilience, determination and hard work of our Tribe. After facing numerous challenges, we have emerged stronger and more successful. The refinancing deal has not only transformed our casino's financial standing but also paved the way for a brighter future for our entire community.”

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San Diego-based Truepic, which provides authenticity infrastructure for the Internet, announced last week that the company has been invited to join the Global Innovators Community of the World Economic Forum as a Coalition for Digital Safety partner. The invitation builds on Truepic's commitment to developing technology and providing solutions that empower transparency and shared trust in content across the internet.

The Global Innovators Community is an invitation-only group of the world's most promising companies at the forefront of ethical technological and business model innovation. As a Global Innovator, Truepic will engage with the Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and collaborate with leaders to help shape the trajectory of technological change that aims to protect society, communities, and industries worldwide.

“The World Economic Forum is pleased to have Truepic join our Global Innovator Community,” said Verena Kuhn, head of the Innovator Communities at the World Economic Forum. “We are delighted to engage Truepic in our Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in particular our workstreams on digital trust and fighting misinformation where Truepic can provide important perspectives on how to drive digital content authentication at scale.”

“In order to establish a safer and more authentic internet, it is critical to build trust and content transparency into the foundation of our information ecosystem,” said Jeff McGregor, CEO of Truepic.

The Global Innovators Community is part of the World Economic Forum – the international organization for public-private cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Established in 1971 as a not-for-profit, the foundation is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interest groups. ■