Creating Economic Opportunities for Native Organizations

Print PDFEight Indian Tribes, Three Alaska Native Corporations, One Hawaiian Organization

Businesses owned 51% or more by Indian tribes and Alaska Native Corporations are able to obtain to sole-source contracts from federal agencies, using special rights provided to them under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program.

This opens up opportunities for creative joint ventures between tribal firms and the private sector to access government contracts outside the competitive processes. Van Ness Feldman helped to draft the language providing the special rights to tribal and ANC 8(a) firms. We then help numerous tribal and private sector firms tap those rights, in this case using a novel approach of forming a joint venture among diverse tribal organizations.