Tlingit & Haida moves to expand its printing business into a historic Juneau building

Tlingit & Haida is moving to grow its tribally owned printing and engraving business, seeking up to $375,000 in loan financing to buy new equipment and relocate the operation into a historic downtown Juneau building the tribe recently acquired.

The business, Village House Printing & Engraving, is where the tribe already produces its own gear in-house — embroidery, screen printing, heat-press transfers and laser engraving. Under the plan, it would move into the third floor of Aan Hít, a 1913 building at 219 South Franklin Street that Tlingit & Haida bought in January, with some light renovation.

The financing would come through the tribe's own Haa Yakaawu Financial Corporation, whose small-business loan program — backed by a federal small-business credit initiative — is meant to strengthen tribally owned and citizen-owned enterprises. For now, the tribe has authorized applying for the loan; it has not yet been approved or closed, and the record does not say whether the move or renovation has started.