GSA Launches New Search Tool for Native American Businesses

The U.S. General Services Administration (“GSA”) has launched a new search tool to support Native American-owned small businesses that allows government buyers to more easily find specific Native American-owned small businesses when searching for commercial products and services.

With this new search feature, Native American-owned small businesses gain added visibility and can better offer their products and services through various government channels such as GSA Advantage!, GSA eBuy, and GSA eLibrary.

The search tool includes special Native American Indian identifiers that help buyers find what they need more efficiently. They can search for specific items like supplies or services and identify businesses by SBA socio-economic certification status like Native American 8(a) Business Development Certification.

The new search features will also help federal agencies meet the Buy Indian Act requirements and achieve their socio-economic contracting goals. For example, Federal and Tribal buyers can now search for supplies made by Native American-owned small businesses. These socio-economic identifiers include:

• American Indian-Owned
• Alaska Native Corporation-Owned
• Native Hawaiian Organization-Owned
• Tribal-Owned

By using this search, government buyers can support Native American-owned small businesses and intertribal commerce. The administration is dedicated to fostering cooperative relationships with Tribal Nations and promoting the economic growth of Native American-owned small businesses.

In addition, by strengthening the Buy Indian Act, the administration increases the special federal contracting preferences set by the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) and the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to procure supplies, services, and construction from Native American-owned small businesses.

FACT SHEET: White House Announces New Actions to Support Indian Country and Native Communities.

The DOI has announced its goal of awarding 75% of contract dollars from Indian Affairs (including Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, and Bureau of Trust Funds Administration) and 10% of contract dollars across all offices of the DOI to Native American-owned small businesses. Also, the Indian Health Services (“IHS”) has raised its goal to 20% of contract spending for Native American-owned small businesses.

The increased target for contract spending should result in hundreds of millions of dollars being spend in Native American territories and advance the government-wide goal of spending with small disadvantaged businesses (“SDB”), especially utilizing the GSA MAS Schedule and the SBA 8(a) Business Development Certification.

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