Nations, Inc. · Episode 3 of 10 · 24 min
The $23 Billion Quiet Giant: The Native Federal-Contracting Boom
Tribal entities won a record $23.3 billion in federal contracts in fiscal 2023, roughly 3% of federal contract dollars, through a favorable version of the SBA 8(a) program. The episode tours the Alaska Native Corporations and Ho-Chunk Inc. behind it, and plants the seed of a pass-through fraud controversy.
Who's who
- Lance Morgan+1 more episodeCEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., economic arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Where it happens
- Alaska+11 more episodesHome of the Alaska Native Corporations that dominate Native contracting
- Winnebago Reservation, Nebraska+1 more episodeBase of Ho-Chunk Inc., founded 1994
- Susanville Indian Rancheria, CaliforniaTribe tied to a 2025 pass-through fraud allegation
Timeline
- 1971Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act creates the for-profit Alaska Native Corporations
- 1994Ho-Chunk Inc. founded as the Winnebago Tribe's economic arm
- 2020ASRC Federal supports the launch of NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 crewed mission
- FY2023Record $23.3 billion in tribal federal contracts, up 16.3% from FY2022
- 2025Pass-through fraud allegation involving about $100 million in no-bid contracts raises 8(a) scrutiny
Still debated
The $23.3 billion all-contracting figure and the $16.1 billion 8(a)-only figure measure different things, and sources disagree on the total size of the 8(a) program. How much sole-source work reflects genuine Native-owned capacity versus pass-through arrangements stays open.