When U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in January he was taking a “sledgehammer” to the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) business development program, alarms bells went off at Alaska Native Corporations. Representatives of corporations and tribes flocked to Washington D.C. in the weeks that followed to advocate for the importance of the program.
The 8(a) program awards no-bid contracts to “socially and economically disadvantaged businesses” so long as the contract meets certain criteria.
In a video posted to X, Secretary Hegseth called the program “the oldest DEI program in the federal government”.
“For decades this program, 8(a), has been a breeding ground for fraud, and this administration is finally doing something about it,” Hegseth said in the video.
According to contract data from USAspending, between 2004 and 2025 over a third of Bering Straits Native Corporation and its subsidiaries’ contracts from the federal government came through the 8(a) program. That amounted to over $1.8 billion.
Last week, Bering Straits’ SVP of Growth and Strategy, Haven Harris, testified in front of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. Harris also serves as co-chair of the Native American Contractors Association, which represents 45 organizations and more than 1 million tribal members.
“Our mission is to strengthen native self determination through participation in federal contracting grounded in the unique political and legal relationship between native peoples and the federal government,” Harris told the committee. “The Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development Program is central to this mission.”
Harris told the committee that in the 2024 fiscal year, 8(a) eligible businesses received over $26.2 billion in federal contracts, good for about 4% of all federal contracts that fiscal year. He said in the case of Alaska Native corporations, profits from 8(a) contracts are poured back into the communities the corporations serve.
“Participation in federal contracting has been one of the most effective tools Congress has provided to turn that model into real, measurable outcomes for our communities. For the Bering Straits Native Corporation and Alaska Native Corp, these benefits are tangible,” Harris said.
Harris ended his testimony by calling on Congress to retain the 8(a) program.
“Until every native who wants to work has access to meaningful employment, the program must be protected. And until native children have a quality of life comparable to other Americans, this program must be protected,” Harris said.
In a January memo, Secretary Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to do a line-by-line review of 8(a) contracts worth over $20 million. He called on the review to find contracts that are “inconsistent with the DoW's warfighting priorities”.
Harris said in an email to KNOM that he was working with Senator Dan Sullivan to provide Secretary Hegseth a “more accurate and complete picture of how Alaska Native Corporations provide real benefits to the Department of War/ Defense”.
