Tribal Advantage in Contracts

About Cayuse

Cayuse Technologies (CT) is tribally owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), a federally recognized Indian tribe, and headquartered on reservation property near Pendleton, Oregon. CT is a tribal 8(a) enterprise, status awarded by the Small Business Administration (SBA). CT is a qualified Native American enterprise in accordance to the Buy Indian Act. CT is also in accordance with the Indian Incentive Program.

The Buy Indian Act and the Indian Incentive Program were established by the federal government to grow and enhance entrepreneurship within Native American communities. In doing so, federal agencies and commercial contractors receive incentives and advantages by conducting work with Cayuse and other tribal enterprises.

Cayuse is also certified HUBZone, a Minority Owned Business Enterprise (MBE), and a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE).

Procurement Advantages by Partnering with Cayuse

Cayuse and its clients benefit from distinctive advantages that come with minority contracting. This allows for an easier procurement process when working with Cayuse. Some of these advantages include the following:

Primes Receive 5% Rebate for Partnering with Cayuse – When federal agency contractors and sub-tier contractors partner with an eligible enterprise such as Cayuse, they are eligible to a bonus of 5% the amount subcontracted (see more below at “Indian Incentive Program”).
Special Rights Under the SBA 8(a) Program – Tribal 8(a) firms are eligible to receive sole source 8(a) contracts regardless of dollar size with no upper limit. All other 8(a) firms may not receive sole source contracts in excess of $3 million for services and $5 million for manufacturing. This allows Cayuse clients to obtain any scale of work when working with us.
Sole-Source Contract Awards Opportunities
As a tribal owned 8(a) company, Cayuse is eligible to receive sole-source contracts. Sole-source contracting has its advantages, including:
- Cayuse receive sole-source contracts above the $4M threshold (13CFR §124.506(b)). Cayuse is exempt from the $4 million sole-source contracting limit placed on other 8(a) certified small businesses.
- Sole-source contracts below $22M do not require justification and authorization per Section 811.
- Sole-source awards cannot be protested (13CFR124.517(a)). This allows Cayuse to begin performing the contracted services immediately.
- Sole-source contracting eliminates the time and cost of market research, proposal review and contractor selection.
No Affiliation in Teaming with Cayuse – The affiliation rules applicable to size standard determinations by the SBA do not apply to tribal 8(a) enterprises. This allows Cayuse to form joint ventures and teams to bid on contracts. Combining two or more contracts into one large contract enhances the ability for Cayuse to perform larger prime contracts and overcome the effects of contract bundling.

Procurement Process Steps

Request is Submitted to Contracting Office

1

SOW and Request are Developed

2

Budget is Identified

3

Standard Procurement

4-6 Months

4 Contract vehicle is identified

5 Solicitation is developed

6 Solicitation is posted on FedBiz Ops

7 Responses are submitted

8 Responses are evaluated

9 Award contract (based on evaluation criteria)

Native American Corporation Procurement

Less Than 20 Days

4 Sole source solicitation is submitted to SBA

5 Response is received by SBA within 10 days (required by law)

6 Contract is negotiated

7 Award contract

Fast, Efficient, Streamlined Acquisition

The Buy Indian Act

The Buy Indian Act is a federal law that requires the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to purchase certain goods and services from qualified American Indian and Alaska Native vendors.

Federal preference for purchase of American Indian goods and services started with the passage of the Indian Appropriations Act of 1886 but was not incorporated into a permanent authorizing statute until 1910. It became generally accepted during the 1980s that all BIA and Indian Health Service (IHS) procurement contracts should be awarded in accordance with the Buy Indian Act unless there is an important reason not to do so.

Currently, the Buy Indian Act is implemented by the U.S. Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1480.

Indian Incentive Program

The Indian Incentive Program (IIP) is congressionally sponsored program that provides a 5% rebate to a Prime Contractor on the total amount subcontracted to an Indian-Owned Economic Enterprise or Indian Organization, in accordance with DFARS Clause 252.226-7001

Established by Section 504 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974 (25 U.S.C. 1544), the IIP motivates prime contractors to utilize Indian organizations and Indian-owned economic enterprises.