Glossary (more apt in this case)

8(a) designation: The Small Business Administration (SBA) established the 8(a) program for set-aside competitive and sole-source contracts. The 8(a) program was created to help small disadvantaged businesses compete in the American economy and access the federal procurement market. The 8(a)-Business Development Program assists in the development of small businesses owned and operated by individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged. As such:

— 8(a) ANCs can receive Sole Source Awards with NO Competition, NO Prior Advertisement and NO Protest. {1}

— 8(a) ANCs can be awarded contracts with no upper ceiling based upon the maximum estimate of the requirement.

— {1 }13 C.F.R. 124.506(b): (b) SBA may award a sole source 8(a) contract to a Participant concern owned and controlled by an Indian tribe or an ANC where the anticipated value of the procurement exceeds the applicable competitive threshold if SBA has not accepted the requirement into the 8(a) BD program as a competitive procurement. There is no requirement that procurement must be competed whenever possible before it can be accepted on a sole source basis for a tribally owned or ANC- owned concern, but a procurement may not be removed from competition to award it to a tribally owned or ANC-owned concern on a sole source basis

— {1}13 C.F.R. 124.517(a), which states: "The eligibility of a Participant for a sole source or competitive 8(a) contract may not be challenged by another Participant or any other party, either before SBA or any administrative forum as part of a bid or other contract protest"

ANC: Alaska Native Corporation, KOMAN, Inc.'s parent corporation. also known as Alaska Native Regional Corporations (Alaska Native Corporations or ANCSA Corporations). Established in 1971 when the United States Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which settled land and financial claims made by the Alaska Natives and provided for the establishment of 13 regional corporations to administer those claims.

ANSCA: Federal Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act established in 1971. Under ANCSA the state was originally divided into twelve regions, each represented by a "Native association" responsible for the enrollment of past and present residents of the region. Individual Alaska Natives enrolled in these associations, and their village level equivalents, were made shareholder in the Regional and Village Corporations created by the Act. The twelve for-profit regional corporations, and a thirteenth region representing those Alaska Natives who were no longer residents of Alaska in 1971, were awarded the monetary and property compensation created by ANCSA. The regional and village corporations are now owned by Alaska Native people through privately owned shares of corporation stock. (For more, see: Wikipedia's Alaska Native Corporation)

Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC): One of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Bering Straits Native Corporation was incorporated in Alaska on June 23, 1972. Headquartered in Nome, Alaska, Bering Straits Native Corporation is a for-profit corporation with about 6.200 Alaska Native shareholders primarily of Inupiat, Siberian Yupik, and Yup'ik descent.

Indian Commerce Clause: Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, states that Congress has the exclusive authority to manage commerce between the states, with foreign nations, and Indian tribes. Courts and commentators have tended to discuss each of these three areas as a separate power granted to Congress. It is common to see the Commerce Clause referred to as "the Foreign Commerce Clause", "the Interstate Commerce Clause", and "the Indian Commerce Clause", each of which refers to the same single sentence in the constitution that covers all three:
Article I, Section 8, Clause 1,3: "The Congress shall have power . . . To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;" (For more, see: Wikipedia's Commerce Clause)

Kodiak Island: Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest town on the island is Kodiak. Kodiak is also home to the largest U.S. Coast Guard base, which includes Integrated Support Command Kodiak, Air Station Kodiak, Communications Station Kodiak, and Aids to Navigation Station Kodiak. Kodiak is the ancestral land of the Koniaga, an Alutiiq nation of Alaska Natives. The original inhabitants subsisted by hunting, fishing, farming, and gathering.

NOK: Natives of Kodiak is an Alaska Native Urban Corporation, incorporated in 1973 as a for-profit corporation. Organized under Alaska Law and pursuant to the 1971 federal Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (16 USC B 1601 et seq.), commonly referred to as "ANCSA".

SBA: Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to small businesses. The SBA was established on July 30, 1953, by the United States Congress with the passage of the Small Business Act. Its function was to "aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns." Also stipulated was that the SBA should ensure a "fair proportion" of government contracts and sales of surplus property to small business. This was accomplished primarily through the Small Business Innovative Research program and government "set-asides."