Creek Nation tribal member, Army veteran, and serial entrepreneur Dave Smoot is on a mission to change the future of aviation — and bring Native communities along for the journey.
Meet Dave Smoot
Dave Smoot's story doesn't fit neatly into any one box — and that's exactly what makes it so compelling.
He's a Tribal Member of the Creek Nation in Oklahoma. A U.S. Army veteran. A tech industry pioneer who helped shape the early days of the software and microcomputer revolution. And today, the founder of companies working to produce sustainable aviation fuel at commercial scale in the United States — with tribal partnership woven into the foundation of that work.
Smoot's business career spans nearly 45 years, beginning after his honorable discharge from the Army Reserves in 1975. He spent two decades in the microcomputer industry, eventually rising to Director of Operations at Digital Research in Pacific Grove, California — a role that put him at the table alongside IBM, Microsoft, Apple, and Intel during one of the most transformative periods in tech history.
In 1983, he founded Software Funding International, Inc. (SFI) — the nation's first “software-only” leasing company, backed by the Chicago Corporation and representing more than 85% of software manufacturers in the micro and minicomputer industries. Dave Smoot is widely credited as the founder of software leasing, which became the fastest-growing segment of the leasing industry before he sold the company. After the company was acquired, he went on to serve as President of Meridian Software before launching additional ventures in government and tribal enterprise leasing.
He later built a real estate infrastructure development company in Scottsdale, Arizona that amassed more than $2.5 billion in signed contracts before the 2008 financial crisis reshaped that landscape. In 2009, he pivoted to renewable energy — and has never looked back.
In 2017, Smoot founded U.S. Advanced Bio-Fuels, Inc. and Northwest Advanced Bio Fuels, LLC (NWABF). He followed those with the launch of SAF America in 2023, a Native American and veteran-owned developer of synthetic sustainable aviation fuel projects built specifically to expand domestic SAF production capacity.
The Work: Sustainable Aviation Fuel at Commercial Scale
SAF America and its sister company NWABF are working on one of the most urgent challenges in global energy — replacing conventional jet fuel with low-carbon alternatives that can actually operate at commercial scale.
NWABF is associated with one of the nation's largest SAF development initiatives, including a long-term fuel purchase arrangement tied to Delta Air Lines. The company utilizes proven second-generation biomass-to-fuel technologies with fixed-cost engineering structures, performance guarantees, and world-class operations and maintenance partnerships.
SAF America, established as a special purpose vehicle, works across project development, financing, engineering coordination, and commercialization — partnering with global engineering, energy, and infrastructure firms whose combined revenues exceed $550 billion. The leadership team brings more than 100 years of combined industry experience.
And critically for PowWows.com readers — the tribal angle is not an afterthought. NWABF is specifically planning to partner with Washington State tribes to help clean forest floor waste from tribal lands, create scholarship pathways and career pipelines for Indigenous community members, and support the development of local senior centers, veterans' centers, and housing for surrounding tribal communities.
The Conversation
In this episode of the PowWows.com podcast, we sat down with Dave to talk about:
- What sustainable aviation fuel actually is and why it matters right now
- How a Creek Nation veteran built a bridge from Silicon Valley to clean energy
- What tribal partnership looks like in practice — and why it's central to NWABF's model
- The Delta Air Lines relationship and what commercial-scale SAF production requires
- His decades of community service, including his work with the Phoenix Indian Center, the NFL Players Association's Native Vision Program, the Native American Basketball Invitational, and Folds of Honor Arizona
- What he hopes this work means for the next generation of Native American innovators and entrepreneurs
It's a conversation about clean energy, yes — but it's really a conversation about what's possible when Native American leadership meets purpose-driven business.
About Dave Smoot
Dave Smoot is the Founder of SAF America and the Founder and CEO of U.S. Advanced Bio-Fuels, Inc. and Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels, LLC. A Tribal Member of the Creek Nation in Oklahoma and U.S. Army veteran, he has dedicated significant time to philanthropic and community leadership throughout his career. In 2008, he received the Spirit Award from the Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Club — an honor voted on annually by all Arizona tribes and presented to the individual who best exemplifies extraordinary dedication and impact benefiting Native American youth.
Learn more at safamericallc.com.
