By Scott D. Dorney, Executive Director, North Carolina Military Business Center
North Carolina businesses, owned by Native Americans, will soon receive a boost in federal contracting – thanks to a new organization operating statewide in our state.
The North Carolina Native American Business Enterprise Center (NC NABEC) recently opened in Pembroke, N.C. The NABEC will operate from office space provided by Porter Scientific, Inc. Porter Scientific is a successful environmental and information technology company that is also 8(a) and HubZone certified and an American Indian woman-owned small business.
Although located in Pembroke, the NABEC will provide services statewide to Native American- owned businesses. The NABEC helps Native Americans start and build small businesses, and provides procurement technical assistance services to Native American-owned businesses to start or expand their federal government contracting.
The NABEC here in North Carolina is one of six statewide centers and 11 offices operated by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. The National Center received a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency to establish the NABEC in North Carolina.
The NABEC and the NCMBC recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a “strategic partner” relationship. The NABEC will be an important partner for the NCMBC. The NCMBC needs qualified and certified businesses – including successful Indian-owned businesses – to help bid on and win federal contracts and to team with prime contractors both in North Carolina and nationwide.
The NCMBC also has a strategic goal to leverage unique business capacity to grow federal contracting in the state. One significant, untapped capacity in our state is Indian-owned businesses, which may qualify as 8(a) small disadvantaged businesses. The NCMBC also has a goal to work with tribes in the state to create tribally-owned corporations, which enjoy significant advantages in federal contracting.
"The North Carolina Native American Business Enterprise Center looks forward to working with the North Carolina Military Business Center as a Strategic Partner of our project,” said Cris Pierce, the NABEC Project Director. “Our combined resources will mean business for Native Americans in the state benefiting all of us."
Native American-owned businesses interested in federal contracting should contact the NABEC at (910) 522-1225, or visit www.ncnabec.org. Businesses can also contact the NCMBC toll free at 877-245-5520, or visit www.ncmbc.us for full contact information.
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