First American Indian to receive award from Minority Business Development
Agency
SAN FRANCISCO — Pete Homer, Mojave/Shasta, president and CEO of the
National Indian Business Association operating in Washington, D.C.,
received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award presented to an American
Indian by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development
Agency in San Francisco.
The presentation crowned the Aug. 19 convening of the nation’s minority
economic development leaders during DOC’s and MBDA’s MED Week 2005. More
than 400 corporate representatives and entrepreneurs attended the awards
banquet, hosted by the MBDA in San Francisco.
Saying, “I’m surprised! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would
be in this wonderful place receiving this award — it is precious, I love
it, thank you,” Homer, a guest columnist for Indian Country Today, accepted
the award.
Homer’s decades of service increasing tribal self-governance and business
opportunities began in the mid-1960s in Arizona after completing military
service in the U.S. Army and Reserves. Success serving 19 tribal
communities in Arizona later led to leadership positions at the U.S.
Department of Labor, as national director of the Comprehensive Employment
and Training Act program, and as a primary implementer of the Office of
Native American Affairs at the Small Business Administration.
Homer’s current work leading NIBA is focusing on securing and expanding
federal procurement participation for tribal business enterprises, Alaska
Native Corporations and Native-owned business. With an expert understanding
of the benefits of 8(a) status and opportunities for Indian country, Homer
is often sought out by high-level administration, agency, executive branch,
corporate and tribal contacts.
