| HOME | LINKS | CONTACT US |
|
Native Contracting Facts - An American Success Story Phenomenal Growth of American Indian and Alaska Native owned businesses: In 1997, there were 197,300 American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses in the United States, employing 298,700 people and generating $34.3 billion in revenues. The number of American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms increased 84% from 1992 to 1997, compared with 7% for all U.S. firms (excluding C Corporations). Source: Census Brief: 1997 Survey of Minority-Owned Businesses. American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses primarily in the Service and Construction Industry: The largest concentration of American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses operate in the Business and Service industry (17%). The next highest concentration of firms operate in the construction industry (16%). Source: 1997 Census Brief: Survey of Minority-Owned Businesses. Annual revenues from federal contracting: In 2004, the 13 ANCSA regional corporations and two village corporations generated $2,440,529,312 in revenues from their federal contract operations nationwide. Source: Self Disclosure from firms. Total number of jobs created from Native federal contract work: In 2004, the 13 ANCSA regional corporations and two village corporations created 27,822 private sector jobs in America. Source: Self Disclosure from firms. Native American share of the federal contracting Pie: In the three-year period, FY 2001 – FY 2003, the total Federal contract awards were $775.5 billion. Of that, $23.9 billion, approximately three percent (3%), was awarded to 8(a) companies. For this period, Native Americans received only 0.2% of Federal contract awards. Source: Eagle Eye. Native American share of 8(a) contract awards: In the three-year period, FY 2001 – FY 2003, the Federal Government awarded nearly $24 billion in contracts to 5,439 8(a) firms. Of that, approximately $1.4 billion, or 6.22%, was awarded to Native Americans. Other 8(a) firms received 93.78% of the 8(a) awards during this time period. Source: Eagle Eye. Large sole-source contracts to Department of Defense contractors: The Center for Public Integrity conducted a study of DoD contract awards from FY 1998 to 2003 and found that only 40% of the DoD’s contracts were conducted under “full and open competition.” During this period, the top five contractors alone received $283 billion from the Pentagon. There were no Native American companies identified among the top 20 contractors. Source: Center for Public Integrity, Outsourcing the Pentagon. What is at stake? There is growing concern that Native Americans’ participation in the 8(a) Program, and indeed the 8(a) Program in general, is in jeopardy. Native Americans only recently began to compete in the federal marketplace and are only now beginning to achieve some measure of success. The 8(a) Program has become an important tool in building a culture of ownership and entrepreneurship in Indian country and in diversifying Native economies. While Native Americans’ participation in this program is enabling them to compete in the American marketplace and to become self-sufficient, they remain one of the poorest and most under-employed groups in America. The 8(a) Program is changing that and enabling Native Americans – through their hard work and business ingenuity – to improve their lives and to create jobs for all Americans. By jeopardizing Native Americans’ participation in this program, we are jeopardizing this progress. |
webmaster