St. George • Pain at the pumps in southwestern Utah is not only driving motorists to fill up at the Shivwits Band of Paiutes’ lone convenience store, but it is also fueling economic development on the reservation nine miles west of St. George.
Motorists from all over southwest Utah and southeast Nevada gather at the Shivwits Convenience Store on Highway 91 to take advantage of prices that are routinely between 50 to 60 cents cheaper than off-reservation stations.
Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the lines can be especially long and tempers short, but the wait is worth it for most motorists who said they routinely pay much less for a fill-up than they would elsewhere.
“We had lines wrapped clear around the store and down the road,” said store manager Tina Gonzales, who also serves on the Shivwits Band Council.
On July 19, a gallon of 87 octane gas — the lowest octane sold at the store — was $4.50. Premium ran $4.76 a gallon and diesel was priced at $5.07. Shivwits’ fuel costs were the second-lowest in the state at the time, according to gasbuddy.com.
“Gas prices are a little insane right now, but they are much nicer here,” said St. George resident Jeff Nielsen, a regular at the store who said he fills up there every time he and his wife Mandy visit his in-laws in Mesquite.
Los Angeles resident Julius Javate — who was in Utah visiting his daughter, a medical student at Rocky Vista University in nearby Ivins — oohed and aahed over the prices at the convenience store, which is nestled in the shadow of Red Mountain and towering red cliffs.
“This is unbelievable,” he said, not of the scenery but the fuel prices. “The cheapest gas I’ve seen in California is $5.99 a gallon, and in most places, you’ll pay $6.49.”
Cameron Echo Hawk, the economic development coordinator for the Shivwits Band, attributes the low prices to having a Native-owned supplier that gives the tribe a great deal on gas.
(Mark Eddington | The Salt Lake Tribune) Customer inside the Shivwits Band of Paiutes' convenience store near St. George, Utah wait in line to check out on July 19, 2022.
And it’s not just gas. While filling their cars with fuel, many customers stock up on cartons of Native American tobacco products, which are hard to find off the reservation. Tobacco is the second biggest seller at the store.
“People will often buy 12 cartons and then fill up and go home,” Gonzales said. “At times, we’ll have a customer buy 50 cartons or more.”
The tribal-owned store opened in February 2014 with one pump. Two more pumps were added a few years later, and the tribe is currently replacing the existing pumps and installing eight more to keep up with the increased demand.
In addition to the store, the tribe owns two federal contracting companies and Shivwits Telemedicine Solutions, a telemedicine company. They also co-own a health insurance company, Sovereign Nations Insurance, with the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and the Kanosh Band of Paiutes.
“We are looking to build a successful economic development operation that will span generations and provide jobs, scholarships, health care and affordable housing,” Echo Hawk said. “Everything the Shivwits band would like to provide for its members will be funded by the businesses it owns.”
Thanks to the profits generated by the convenience store, the biggest moneymaker for the tribe, development has already started.
The tribe is currently constructing a five-field soccer complex on 19 acres adjacent to the store that will be finished by next spring. The Utah Youth Soccer Association is leasing the fields from the tribe for 25 years to host Region 6 matches and tournaments. When the fields are not being used for soccer, tribal members will be free to use them for powwows, Native American fairs and other cultural events.
“It is expected to draw about 100,000 people a year,” Echo Hawk said.
A few miles to the east at Fire Lake Park at Ivins Reservoir — half of which is owned by the Shivwits — the tribe is constructing a parking lot near the western banks and plans to open a concession stand to sell food and drinks to crowds that visit the reservoir. Once the construction is finished, they plan to build an RV park immediately west of the parking lot.
But the convenience store, which employs 13 tribal members and also supplies part-time jobs to youth on the reservation during the summer, isn’t just about turning a profit. Gonzales said she believes instilling the value of hard work into the community’s youth will lead to greater self-esteem, putting the youngest members of the tribe on the path to a brighter economic future.
And to help tribal members who want to go back to school or get a college education, the tribe awarded eight scholarships last year and is looking to boost that number this year to 10 or more. If the money from its business ventures keeps rolling in, the Shivwits Band wants to do even more.
“It’s so important for us to make sure we are doing the best that we can for our people because it is all about them,” Gonzales said. “I think we are on the right track so far, but there’s always room to do better.”
