COLORADO BUSINESS HALL OF FAME
  • Laureates By Name
  • Laureates by Year
    • 2025
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  • Laureates By Name
  • Laureates by Year
    • 2025
  • Supporters
  • Junior Achievement
  • PBS Specials
  • Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • Nomination Form

Leonard Burch

​When he was born on December 24, 1933, in Ignacio, CO, Leonard C Burch’s parents gave him the Indian name Shining Star.

In 1966, Burch was chosen by his people to be the tribe’s youngest chairman in history. Looking around him, he saw hardship and struggle everywhere. His people struggled to make a living in the mid-1960s. Yet there was hope. During the previous decade, energy companies had discovered natural gas on Southern Ute land. Burch, who had worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs real estate office, realized that his people’s key to prosperity lay in controlling the natural gas production on their land.

Burch teamed up with 24 other Indian leaders to start the Council of Energy Resource Tribes. Through tireless effort and years of political advocacy, the Council recovered control of tribal energy resources from the Department of Interior in 1982. Burch later led the Southern Utes in a project to regain energy profits by creating the Red Willow Production Company, one of the first American Indian natural gas provider operations. Red Willow fought with two-dozen corporations to own the natural gas they extracted. Today, Red Willow has grown to become one of the largest natural gas providers in the region.

Today, life for the Southern Ute Tribe is much improved, with the wealth derived from its energy resources and obtained through hard work and relationships with non-Indian neighbors. Burch was also a firm believer in traditional tribal ceremonies, and his goal was to continue the Southern Ute ways with understanding and compassion. Much of the financial windfall he helped create for the Southern Utes will not only go towards their continued prosperity but also preserving their centuries-old traditions and priceless heritage. 
The Colorado Business Hall of Fame is co-presented by
Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain Inc. and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Videos produced by Becky Holden of Biography Media, [email protected]