- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Economic Development
Here is this week’s rundown of funding opportunities, events, jobs, people on the move and federal contracting awards.
MONEY
GRANT: The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco last week announced a new $1 million Tribal Nations Program that provides infrastructure funding grants to increase the supply of affordable housing for Native American communities. Grant dollars will be allocated across the Bank’s three-state district of Arizona, California, and Nevada and will support capacity building efforts and delivery of technical assistance designed to help tribal organizations submit competitive applications for funding from the Bank’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP), as well as for Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and other federal, state, and local housing and community programs.
NOFO: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last week announced a $150 million notice of funding opportunity for the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) Competitive Grant Program last week. The opportunity, which was originally posted Jan. 17, is for tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) to carry out affordable housing activities. HUD will give funding priority for new housing construction projects, housing rehabilitation projects, acquisition of existing housing units that increase the affordable housing stock, and necessary affordable housing-related infrastructure projects. Deadline for applications is March 19, 2024 at 11:59:59.
GRANT: The charitable foundation of TD Bank opened its $7 million Housing for Everyone grant competition, focusing this year on funding non-profit organizations that are providing services that support independent living for marginalized community members. These services include rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing or transitional housing. The TD Bank Foundation plans to award $7 million to non-profit organizations within the bank’s Maine-to-Florida footprint as well as Michigan. Applications are open until Feb. 13, and winners will be announced in May 2024.
RFA: The USDA released a request for applications for its Supporting the Use of Traditional Indigenous Foods in the Child Nutrition Programs Cooperative Agreement on Grants.gov. They’ll award $2 million in total funding to up to four organizations to provide regionally focused training and TA to school-nutrition professionals on procurement, preparation, and crediting of traditional Indigenous foods, including the use of cooperator and FNS-developed resources and tools. There are webinars on Feb. 8 and Feb. 13 for anyone interested in learning more. Deadline for applications is March 18, 2024 with an expected announcement in April 2024.
GRANT: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said it would extend the deadline for applications for the second round of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, which provides funding to improve high-speed connectivity on native lands. Eligible tribal and native entities will be given until March 22 to apply. The deadline extensions are intended to provide potential applicants with more time to develop competitive project proposals and project consortia, according to an NTIA news release last week
RFI: No money here yet, but the federal government’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID) filed a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit information and potential interest from organizations related to advancing community well-being through Indigenous-led tourism partnerships. At this point, the RFI is for the sole purpose of collecting information and responding won’t give you an advantage or a conflict if there is a future funding round. You can download the information and questions here. Deadline for answers is Feb. 16, 2024.
JOBS
Executive Director - The Native American Financial Officers Association (NAFOA) posted an updated request for proposal listing as part of its search for a new executive director, who will be responsible for overseeing the administration, programs, and strategic plan of the organization.
Realty Specialist - The Department of the Interior is seeking to fill multiple realty specialist positions within the Office of Trust Services and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The listing is an open continuous announcement; applicant reviews started on Jan. 3 and occur every two weeks after.
Community Development President - Denver-based Native American Bank is looking for a president of community development to plan, coordinate and implement programs and initiatives aimed at improving the overall quality of life and well-being of targeted communities. The person hired for this position can be located either in Denver or Seattle.
EVENTS
The Interior’s Office of Indian Economic Development is hosting a webinar on Indian business incubators on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. The webinar will feature industry experts discussing best practices and strategies for Tribal business development, entrepreneurship, as well as incubation planning and preparation, according to a flier on the OIED website. Register here.
PEOPLE
After more than two decades as the popularly elected Chief Executive/Chairwoman of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Melanie Benjamin announced Thursday she won’t seek a sixth term in office in 2024. First elected in 2000, Benjamin is one of the longest-serving Chief Executives in the Band's history. Benjamin has also achieved national prominence in her work promoting Native women in leadership.
It looks like it was a short retirement for longtime KeyBank executive Mike Lettig (Diné), who left the Cleveland-based bank last fall. He’s now joined Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bank to lead its Native American Financial Services group. A descendant of the Navajo Nation, Lettig brings more than three decades of mainstream banking experience working with tribes. Last year, he received the lifetime achievement award from NAFOA for his service to Indian Country. Huntington also hired additional experts to join Lettig on Huntington’s Native American team, including Pokagon Band treasurer Dr. Alex Wesaw and Bay Mills member Allard Teeple, according to a news release Huntington emailed us on Friday.
Law firm Drummond Woodsum said it added Brandon Bitsuei and Brendan Keenan, Jr. to the firm’s tribal nation’s practice group, according to a LinkedIn post from the firm.
After an extensive search, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) announced Shyla Spicer as its new president and CEO. Spicer, an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, grew up in Portland, Oregon, and returns to her hometown to take on this pivotal role. NACF has supported nearly 400 artists and arts organizations with grants.
RESOURCES
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released an updated Energy Primer, which dives into topics including gas-electric coordination, renewables integration, demand response, financial markets, market manipulation and more.
FEDERAL CONTRACTING
Here are some of the notable contract awards from last week. Be sure to check out our story last week about the record growth in federal contracting among tribal entities in 2023 and what experts are looking for in 2024.
Teya Support Services LLC, an Alaska Native-owned business, was awarded a $23 million contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center’s weapons division in China Lake.
STG Services, a unit of the Calista Native Corporation, was awarded a $3.5 contract last week from the Department of Transportation to provide construction related services for a road improvement project in Alaska.
Kailua, Hawaii-based Lawelawe Defense Inc., a Native Hawaiian Organization owned firm, was awarded a $37.1 million contract in support of the Air Force’s National Tactical Integration Program, according to a DoD news release. The contract provides for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance subject-matter expertise and maintenance, ongoing development, and execution of an existing master training plan.
Nakupuna Consulting LLC, a Native Hawaiian-owned firm specializing in IT, logistics, management and other services, was awarded a $9.7 million 8(a) direct contract on Jan. 26 to provide management and administrative services to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (OSD CAPE).
If you have news, jobs, events, or other opportunities to share, email us at [email protected].
