2012 Year in Review
Dear Friends & Supporters:
In addressing the Chamber side to our organization, we would like to say that as 2012 draws to a close, we at the American Indian Enterprise & Business Council (AIEBC) wanted to take the time to wish all of you a sincere and heartfelt Happy Holidays and a very Happy and Healthy New Year! The AIEBC was officially launched in December of 2011, after John JH O’Brien joined from another Organization and together, along with all of you, we have been able to pool resources and to reach a large audience to spread our message of fundamental reforms to the way in which information and opportunities are reaching the Veterans, Unemployed, and Underemployed American Indians and American Indian owned businesses in Missouri and Kansas.
We would also like to thank our partners for your advocacy for the American Indian Community in our common goal of strengthening the business community, supporting American Indians, Veterans and Families, and maintaining a strong economy.
Our Partnership Initiative in this community is a bold and innovative strategy that will transform how American Indian businesses and corporate America attract, develop and retain talent, the AIEBC will continue collaborating with business leaders to develop solutions to meet America’s industry demands, tackle the issue of workforce preparedness, and reinvigorate America’s human talent to remain competitive in not just the Kansas City economy but the National economy as well.
This is mutually advantageous because the partnerships we develop today gives employers utilizing the AIEBC a highly capable Employee who is trained, knowledgeable and experienced in the various facets of Business. Together, the two entities share and enhance the skills of one individual who contributes to both a robust national economy and to the American Indian community.
By combining our veterans, college students and human capital, I believe this Partnership Initiative will create a new human resources model that will revolutionize how the American Indian, veteran community and employers do business in the future and as a positive return on the investment by the Kansas City Business community, the AIEBC will provide trained and ready individuals to complement the Kansas City workforce and Business community
In addressing the philanthropic side of our organization, I have to admit it has been a rocky year for us and we regret that we did not realize our hope of starting a Meals on Wheels program for our Elders and shut ins but due to unfortunate circumstances it is something we hope to pursue in the very near future, on the other hand its been an extremely productive year as well, fortunately with the help and support from partners such as Burns & McDonnell and UMB Financial, as well as from generous donations from supporters like you, we’ve been able to say that:
• We sit on the State of Missouri’s Department of Transportations Statewide Inclusion Advisory Council as well as the City of Kansas City’s Advisory Council.
• We have petitioned and made application to City Hall to appoint us to several Mayoral appointed boards including the Fairness in Construction Board and are waiting to hear back from them.
• We held our annual Christmas program this year on a local Reservation. We gave over 45 boxes to families that contained a frozen turkey and everything needed to make a Christmas day dinner for eight as well as 45 Wal-Mart gift cards valued at $25 each (the list of what each box contained is available upon request), we tried to get this to coincided with the Tribes Toys for Tots program. We would very much like to thank Mike Hudson of Three Feathers Construction, Jim Matlack of Bear Paw Construction and Burns & McDonnell the three of our biggest contributors to this years event as well as all the volunteers from our Board, in kind donors and the local Tribal and community leaders who made this such a huge success.
• This past year (2012) we received a proclamation from both the Jackson County Legislature and the Mayor of Kansas City for American Indian Awareness Month and continue to expect making this a yearly event, the venue was hosted by Burns & McDonnell and recognized nine American Indian Medal of Honor recipients including the family of Rear Admiral Joseph “Jocko” Clark, Medal of Honor recipient and first American Indian graduate of the United States Naval Academy. (Please note that if you attended our event and would like pictures from the event, we would be happy to share them with you, please send us a forwarding address and we’ll get them out to you).
Our keynote speakers for American Indian Awareness Month were The Chiefs of the Wyandotte Nation and the Pottawatomie Nation as well as the representative for Haskell Universities Dean.
• We established an Internship Program and set up guidelines to make it successful with both Business and Educational Institutes.
• We developed Employee Manuals for start up and established businesses.
• Established an Outreach Program that assisted Tribes in setting up Feasibility Studies, Business Plans, Guidelines for starting their own businesses that included training materials & CD’s, Counseling for Veterans and Guidelines for Establishing Archives & Repositories for Native Language Preservation.
This assistance and information went out to over 25 Tribes, Villages and Indian Organizations including:
Chickaloon Village (Nay’dini’aa Na’)
Chickaloon Village Traditional Council
Prescott Indian Tribe
Hoonah Indian Association
Nanwalek IRA Council Nanwalek
Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians
Algaaciq Tribal Government St. Mary’s
Nondalton Tribal Council
Delaware Tribe of Indians
Snoqualmie Indian Tribe
Curyung Tribal Council
Just to name a few, our complete list is available upon demand (info@aiebc.org).
• We spoke at and then partnered with a Christian Organization in St. Louis to do a Winterization Program and assist with housing repair and rehabilitation on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota; this is a worthwhile program we intend to sponsor yearly, if you wish to be a partner in this program, please let us know, we could certainly use the help.
• Despite the whispering campaign they have engaged in, we will continue working on closing the door to businesses that are obtaining MBE status by claiming they are an American Indian Owned business when they are not, this is not only fraud but it causes larger prime contractors to shy away from using American Indian owned businesses because the complexities of what constitutes being an American Indian owned is not worth the effort to them and unfortunately for what few contracts that are made available to American Indians this causes an enormous amount of strain to the company. We are more than happy to share with you the names and contact information of businesses that are legitimately American Indian owned.
It’s been a busy year and we have not even scratched the surface in sharing with you the hurdles and accomplishments our members and board have accomplished this year alone, if you would like a more detailed account please contact us (info@aiebc.org).
If you have or know of any business or organization wanting to partner and or participate in an Internship with us please let us know, we would love to hear from you.