LOWER BRULE - Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan is touring a Native American-owned and operated business and meeting with tribal leaders on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation on Thursday.

Merrigan will tour the Lakota Food facility Thursday afternoon. It's the first and only Native American business that produces, processes, packages and markets popcorn.

Afterward, she will meet with tribal leaders from South Dakota's nine Indian tribes to discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture's efforts to promote business development and job creation in rural areas of the state.

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