Edwin Mizuno
Inter-Tribal Economic Alliance Champions Investments and Jobs
Native Hawaiian Advancement President to head efforts to strengthen small business development program
Las Vegas, Nevada –Robin Danner, a Native Hawaiian from Hawaii and President of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, has been appointed as the coordinator of efforts to strengthen a small business administration business development program, Native 8(a). The appointment was announced at the 9th annual convention of the Inter Tribal Economic Alliance (ITEA) in December. Danner is an ITEA director.
Danner's apopintment was part of the ITEA's reaffirmation of a commitment to legislatively strengthen the Native 8(a) program and clarify its place among the self-determination policies and programs of the Federal Government.
“Robin Danner, a Native Hawaiian from Hawaii, has dedicated her life's work to the self-determination and economic development of Native Hawaiians, American Indians and Alaska Natives. She is a strong native leader with a firm understanding of the goals of ITEA and the Native 8(a) program's origins to advance economic self determination.” said Tex Hall, ITEA Chairman.
Danner, a former banker and tribal housing authority executive, was born and raised in Hawaii, the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations, and the High Arctic of Alaska.
“The Native 8(a) program is not for individual business owners or investors,” Danner commented, an ITEA board member and also the President of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.
“Congress limited participation in the Native 8(a) program to federally recognized tribes, congressionally created Alaska Native Corporations and Hawaii State incorporated Native Hawaiian nonprofits. And it wisely did so to bring to bear one of the most successful business programs to support self-determination policies and to empower federal agencies to engage in the fulfillment of the federal trust responsibility to all Native peoples.”
According to ITEA, for the last several years, some members of Congress have attempted to strike down one of Indian country's most successful business development programs since the end of the federal Termination Policy era.
ITEA leaders also took action on initiatives to promote capital investments and job creation in native communities. ITEA approved the launch of Buffalo Capital, LLC to coordinate investment and financial resources in Native organizations promoting micro-lending and financial services.
“Buffalo Capital establishes a much needed source of investment capital to native and tribal organizations that are delivering micro-loans around the country,” said ITEA Chairman Hall, who is the elected Tribal Chairman of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara tribe in North Dakota.
“We have put together our investment and technical leadership team, and expect to close on our first transaction in 2012, estimated at $5 million.”
“It’s clear that a few members of Congress have crossed wires on our Tribal 8(a) program, with the Minority 8(a) program,” Chairman Hall remarked. “One was established in the 1960's to facilitate increased contracting by the Federal Government to veteran, women and racial minority-owned firms. The other was established in the 1980's as part and parcel of the Federal Trust relationship with tribes and our business organizations. Both programs are extremely valuable to the American economy, and each have very different purposes and outcomes.”
The annual ITEA meeting concluded on Friday December 9, 2011, with an energy summit scheduled for May of 2012, another economic focus area of the ITEA leadership.
ITEA was founded in 2002 to unify tribal, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian leadership around common solutions for economic self determination. In 2003, ITEA successfully launched the first information technology consortium of tribally-owned, Alaska Native Corporation-owned and Native Hawaiian nonprofit-owned social enterprises. 13 firms assisted each other to build capacity to operate document digitization businesses inside Indian reservations, Alaska Native and Hawaiian Homelands. Many of the firms have expanded into call centers, and other IT services in the private and government sectors. For more information, email info@nativebusiness.org.
