Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 January 1984 — MINORITY STATUS FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MINORITY STATUS FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTS

Rocky Freitas

Getting Native Hawaiians recogniz.ed by the Federal government, in this case for the right to bid for Federal eontracts, has required patience, determination and time on the part of OHA's Eeonomie Development Division and Committee. With the kokua of Senator Daniel Inouye and his Executive Assistant David Peters, we have worked together to correct the omission of native Hawaiians from the list of those groups who are eligible for consideration of minority Federal eontracts. The bottom line is that the addition of native Hawaiians to the list did not cost any money from our funds except for staff being able to get the job done! The result for native Hawaiians who own small businesses and who deal or may want to deal with the Federal government is the opportunity to receive special attention when they bid.

In a letter from the GSA Acquisition Policy Office, we are told the Minority Business Development Agency "has now provided us a revised definition of minority group members. . .requesting we include (them) in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. This definition includes Native Hawaiians as Native Americans." And according to them that regulation "currently contains extensive coverage of the Small Business Administration programs designed to assist small disadvantaged business eoncerns. The definition of disadvantaged includes Native Hawaiians." As Vice-Chairman of OHA's Resource Development Committee, I am pleased to have been able to work with Senator Inouye and our Congressional delegation to help put Hawaiians in a better position for Federal procurement programs.