week of 2/27/02
 
 
 
Tribal programs help Cherokee businesses
TERO attempts to bolster Indian employment
By Don Hendershot

Native American entrepreneur Janice Wilnoty has taken advantage of tribal programs to help expand Cherokee Aqua Metrics (C.A.M.), her computer information services company located at 837 Main Street in Bryson City. Wilnoty takes pride in the fact that C.A.M. is a TERO (Tribal Employment Rights Office) certified company.

“People say those people (TERO staff) sit around and drink coffee and don’t do anything. That’s not the case. We’re really fortunate to have them,” Wilnoty said.

Wilnoty, who earned an associate’s degree in Information Systems from Southwestern Community College, has not let much dust collect under her feet since the formation of C.A.M. in April, 2000. Her clients have included the Great Plains Regional Bureau of Indian Affairs Office, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Some of the services C.A.M. offers include computer training, database and software development and environmental consulting. C.A.M. has recently signed a contract with the EBCI to provide computer training for the Cherokee Police Department.

Berak Myers, director of TERO, said Wilnoty and C.A.M. are joined by over 200 Indian-owned businesses that are TERO certified. He said the TERO list contains landscapers, general contractors, computer companies, craftsmen and artisans, stockbrokers — just about any profession or business one could imgaine.

According to a TERO brochure, the office was established to use applicable laws and powers to increase the employment of Indian people, increase the number of Indian businesses and to eradicate discrimination against Indians. Tribal procuring agencies are required to provide Indian preference to all economic enterprises that are certified through TERO as 51 percent Indian owned and operated.

But, according to Myers, Indian-owned companies must hold up their end of the bargain. They must have all applicable North Carolina general and/or trade licenses plus applicable Tribal licenses. And the TERO staff and commission must be assured the Indian owned company can adequately provide the services promised.

C.A.M.’s performance and capabilities so impressed Tribal officials that Wilnoty was invited to speak at the recent USET (United South and Eastern Tribes Inc.) meeting in Washington. Wilnoty said she spoke about the challenges facing low-income and rural areas when it comes to computer training. She said the lack of computer skills is debilitating in this day and age and that it isn’t restricted to students. She said some tribal agencies now have computers but employees lack the skills to use them to their full advantage.

Wilnoty said she was given some standard computer educational guides to review before USET, skills high school students were expected to acquire by graduation. Wilnoty said she was shocked.

“My 7-year old could do this,” she said.

At USET, Wilnoty encouraged tribal officials to establish their own computer standards. Higher standards will help Native Americans succeed, she said.

Wilnoty has parlayed her computer abilities into success for C.A.M. She and partner Roger Clapp, Ph.D., a hydrologist and environmental scientist, have joined with HydroGeologic Inc. to develop an environmental database, Dasler-X, that allows government and tribal environmental departments to gather historical environmental data from different organizations into one comprehensive database.

C.A.M. also recently created a database for the EBCI Health and Medical Division, Medicare B Payment Tracker, that allows the division to track specific demographic and payment information of Cherokee tribal members enrolled in the Medicare B program.

Wilnoty also took advantage of a low-interest business loan offered through a joint program between the tribe and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She was able to borrow money at a low interest rate for nine new Dell computers to set up her training lab in Bryson City.

“I am grateful for the opportunities the tribe has provided for Cherokee Aqua Metrics. Of course we work with many different clients and communities but it is always a special treat to work with and/or for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,” said the enrolled member of the EBCI.