Post by Okwes on Jul 26, 2006 9:32:04 GMT -5
Native people, among the nation's poorest, get a leg up from SBA
contracting provision
By Chris E. McNeil Jr.
www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/OpEd/062006_oped2.\
html
<http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/OpEd/062006_oped2\
.html>
Karl McLaughlin, like the rest of his family in the native village of
Afognak, Alaska, grew up as a subsistence and commercial fisherman. His
family faced devastation when the fresh-fish markets plummeted after the
Exxon Valdez oil spill, and Karl knew that he needed to find a more
financially stable line of work.
In 1993 Karl had the opportunity to intern at the Afognak Native Corp.
in his village. He worked, trained and climbed the ranks to the position
of senior vice president of information technology, overseeing 4,300
employees.
Today Karl is able to provide a better life for his family. That would
not have been possible without the Small Business Administration's
Native 8(a) contracting program.
Unfortunately, Karl's story is the exception. Tribal members are
among the poorest and most underemployed segments of American society.
Congress has long sought programs that spur economic development in
native communities. Decades of failed economic-development policies and
programs, however, demonstrate that alleviating the entrenched poverty
in many native communities is not easy.
When talking about the persistently depressed economic conditions in her
community, an elder in one Alaska Native village said that her
generation "had even forgotten the word in their native language for
hope."
But the 8(a) contracting program is a rare example of a federal policy
that works and is bringing hope back to our communities.
It took nearly 20 years for Native American contractors to show progress
in participating in the federal marketplace, but today American Indian
tribes and Alaska Natives across the nation are beginning to realize the
positive effects of the 8(a) program. Recent testimony before the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs highlighted the program as one of the most
successful laws Congress has enacted to foster self-sufficiency and
economic development in native communities.
Contracting revenues are essential to support vibrant, healthy native
communities in some of the poorest regions, where unemployment and
poverty rates are staggering. The 8(a) program has been particularly
helpful to those tribes that are far away from major markets or
industrial centers, because it provides access to federal markets
nationwide. The government-to-government commerce stimulated by the 8(a)
program is helping to build self-sustaining economies and self-reliance
in our native communities.
Unlike other American small businesses, where the owners retain revenues
as profits, the revenues from native enterprises benefit hundreds —
and often thousands — of tribal members. The revenue earned by
native enterprises provides basic governmental services, job training
programs, scholarships, healthcare clinics, social-service programs and
cultural programs for their entire communities. The Native American
contracting provisions recognize the unique status of Indian tribes and
the unique obligations of tribal governments to provide for the health,
welfare and safety of their citizens.
Tomorrow the House Small Business and Government Reform committees will
hold a hearing to review a recent Government Accountability Office
report on the participation on Alaska Native corporations in the 8(a)
program. The report shows the success of the federal policy of advancing
federal procurement goals while simultaneously promoting Native American
government-to-government participation in the federal marketplace.
The report also confirms what Karl McLaughlin and others in our
communities already know: The 8(a) program is helping tribal communities
diversify their economies and provide opportunities to a group of
Americans historically far less able to access the American dream.
McNeil is chairman of the Native American Contractors Association, which
works to preserve government contracting participation based on the
government-to-government relationship between Native Americans and the
federal government. Members include community-based enterprises owned
American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives.
contracting provision
By Chris E. McNeil Jr.
www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/OpEd/062006_oped2.\
html
<http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/OpEd/062006_oped2\
.html>
Karl McLaughlin, like the rest of his family in the native village of
Afognak, Alaska, grew up as a subsistence and commercial fisherman. His
family faced devastation when the fresh-fish markets plummeted after the
Exxon Valdez oil spill, and Karl knew that he needed to find a more
financially stable line of work.
In 1993 Karl had the opportunity to intern at the Afognak Native Corp.
in his village. He worked, trained and climbed the ranks to the position
of senior vice president of information technology, overseeing 4,300
employees.
Today Karl is able to provide a better life for his family. That would
not have been possible without the Small Business Administration's
Native 8(a) contracting program.
Unfortunately, Karl's story is the exception. Tribal members are
among the poorest and most underemployed segments of American society.
Congress has long sought programs that spur economic development in
native communities. Decades of failed economic-development policies and
programs, however, demonstrate that alleviating the entrenched poverty
in many native communities is not easy.
When talking about the persistently depressed economic conditions in her
community, an elder in one Alaska Native village said that her
generation "had even forgotten the word in their native language for
hope."
But the 8(a) contracting program is a rare example of a federal policy
that works and is bringing hope back to our communities.
It took nearly 20 years for Native American contractors to show progress
in participating in the federal marketplace, but today American Indian
tribes and Alaska Natives across the nation are beginning to realize the
positive effects of the 8(a) program. Recent testimony before the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs highlighted the program as one of the most
successful laws Congress has enacted to foster self-sufficiency and
economic development in native communities.
Contracting revenues are essential to support vibrant, healthy native
communities in some of the poorest regions, where unemployment and
poverty rates are staggering. The 8(a) program has been particularly
helpful to those tribes that are far away from major markets or
industrial centers, because it provides access to federal markets
nationwide. The government-to-government commerce stimulated by the 8(a)
program is helping to build self-sustaining economies and self-reliance
in our native communities.
Unlike other American small businesses, where the owners retain revenues
as profits, the revenues from native enterprises benefit hundreds —
and often thousands — of tribal members. The revenue earned by
native enterprises provides basic governmental services, job training
programs, scholarships, healthcare clinics, social-service programs and
cultural programs for their entire communities. The Native American
contracting provisions recognize the unique status of Indian tribes and
the unique obligations of tribal governments to provide for the health,
welfare and safety of their citizens.
Tomorrow the House Small Business and Government Reform committees will
hold a hearing to review a recent Government Accountability Office
report on the participation on Alaska Native corporations in the 8(a)
program. The report shows the success of the federal policy of advancing
federal procurement goals while simultaneously promoting Native American
government-to-government participation in the federal marketplace.
The report also confirms what Karl McLaughlin and others in our
communities already know: The 8(a) program is helping tribal communities
diversify their economies and provide opportunities to a group of
Americans historically far less able to access the American dream.
McNeil is chairman of the Native American Contractors Association, which
works to preserve government contracting participation based on the
government-to-government relationship between Native Americans and the
federal government. Members include community-based enterprises owned
American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives.