Press Releases
Alaska Native Leaders To Testify At Congressional Hearing On 8(a) Contracting Issues
Washington, D.C.,
September 18, 2007
Julie Kitka, the President of the Alaska Federation of Natives, and Sarah Lukin, of the Afognak Native Corporation, are among the witnesses scheduled to testify at a Congressional hearing examining the importance of 8(a) contracts for the diversification of Native American and Native Alaskan economies.
The hearing by the U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Ranking Member on the Committee, said Wednesday’s hearing is the first of several hearings on diversifying economies of American Indians and Alaska Natives. This first hearing will focus on 8(a) contracting by Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations. “The 8(a) program has been successful in creating an efficient and cost effective contracting option for the government that supports disadvantaged and small businesses while providing economic opportunity to Native people that are among the poorest and most underemployed in the nation,†Young said. One economic success story for Native Americans (Indian tribes, Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs), and Native Hawaiians) is in federal contracting, particularly the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program. The 8(a) program rewards government procurement contracts to minority owned small businesses. These businesses are allowed to negotiate sole source contracts with government agencies for a set number of years, until they “graduate†from the program and enter the competitive marketplace. The 8(a) program has different rules for Native American entities than it does for individually owned businesses that reflect the differences between the two. In 2005, the Federal government spent $377.5 billion on contracts. Native entities received 0.8 percent of the value of these contracts in total. Eleven billion dollars in federal contracts were awarded to 8(a) firms, of which $1.9 billion (or 17.3 percent) were awarded to ANCs and Tribes. For comparative purposes, people identified as “Native Americans†alone represent about one percent of the Wednesday’s Witness List Panel I - Bob Middleton, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Interior Dept. - Katherine Schinasi, General Accountability Office - Bill Largent, Small Business Administration Panel II - Joe Garcia, President, National Congress of American Indians - Tex Hall, Chairman, Intertribal Economic - Julie Kitka, President, - Greg DuMontier, Native American Contractors Association Panel III - Jonathon Taylor, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development - Neal McCaleb, Chickasaw Nation Industries - Sarah Lukin, Afognak Native Corporation ( For more information, access the Committee on Natural Resources’ Minority website at: |