U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS), an ardent champion for Native CDFIs, will join NCN on this webinar to share about the Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act (HR 7396) and how Native CDFIs and their partners can advance this to passage in the 119th Congress.

This bipartisan bill – which features two Democrat and two GOP co-sponsors – codifies in statute the Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) within the Small Business Administration (SBA), which shall be responsible for building a working relationship with Indian Country “by targeting programs of the Administration relating to entrepreneurial development, contracting, and capital access” to (1) establish or expand small businesses owned and controlled by individual Native people, and (2) broadly promote economic development across Indian Country. The Act also mandates that ONAA be headed by an Assistant Administrator for Native American Affairs, who will report directly to the SBA Administrator with expanded ability to: provide support through grants, contracts, and technical assistance; conduct tribal consultations; utilize SBA’s entrepreneurial and contracting programs; and provide training for Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and Native Hawaiian Organizations and small businesses owned and controlled by their members.