Billy Hamilton (left) and Boyd Miller (right), both with the Choctaw Nation, stopped Oklahoma Secretary of State and Native American Affairs, Chris Benge (middle), to hold a quick meeting after his speech during this year’s The Gathering.
Native Business Owners Meet at Second Annual The Gathering
Brandon Frye
Choctaw Nation
Durant, Okla. - Choctaw entrepreneurs made their presence known at this year’s biggest Native American business summit in Oklahoma: The Gathering.
The American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma (AICCO) held its second business summit in Norman at the Riverwind Casino, beginning Aug. 9 and lasting three days.
The Gathering gives Native American tribes and businesses the opportunity to come together and share innovative ideas, promoting and enhancing the success of all American Indian people—especially citizens with entrepreneurial intentions.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) acted as silver sponsor for this year’s event, while representatives from CNO manned booths and lead sessions.
Boyd Miller with the Choctaw Nation Preferred Supplier Program (PSP), and Vice President of AICCO, lead a number of sessions, as did Billy Hamilton with Choctaw Nation’s Small Business Development Services (SBDS). And Dale Jackson, Senior Business Analyst with CNO, spoke to attendees to teach them about securing grants.
Miller’s sessions focused on what the PSP can do to help both growing and established Native and minority businesses.
“We have valuable people out there we should be utilizing with the Choctaw Nation and other tribal nations,” Miller said.
One of the purposes of the PSP is to help tribal nations contract Native businesses first when they need products or services. This is done with an official list of accredited PSP businesses, which tribal nations look to when they are contracting out, as well as a bid board allowing PSP businesses to bid on contracts.
A number of Choctaw-owned businesses made an appearance during The Gathering.
Shane Cessnun, owner of Country Medical Supply, tackled the need for better healthcare for Indian populations, especially for individuals with diabetes. He started his own medical equipment company four years ago, and has aimed it at helping citizens suffering from diabetes to stay healthy and avoid needing amputations due to preventable infections.
Kevin McMillan with Red Sky Total Solutions and Sean Burns with Summit Solar were both also in attendance.
Pam Mahar with Mahar Manufacturing runs two businesses. Creative Colors creates children’s furniture kept playful with bright hues—Mahar donated some of her furniture to the CNO after the business summit. Mahar also leads 4Legs4Pets, which specializes in cots for lounging dogs and cats.
Mother and daughter Tami Adams and Sarah Adams-Cornell attended in representation of their family businesses Redland Sheet Metal. As the name implies, Redland Sheet Metal offers clean and simple sheet metal fabrication and installation for restaurants, as well as industrial, commercial, architectural, and residential needs. They are capable of working custom fabrication to fit the desires of their customers.
“The opportunities are in front of us, and we know they will keep coming as we continue to grow,” Adams-Cornell said. “The networking opportunities at these events are spectacular. It takes a little bit of something to walk up to someone and stick your hand out, but the benefit of that is so worth it. It is what it takes to find success.”
In addition to breakaway sessions, booths, and networking activities, The Gathering featured three key speakers.
The speakers included: Rose Hill, who founded Bank2, a community bank which opened in 2002 and is owned by the Chickasaw Nation; Osage businesswoman Margo Gray, owner of Margo Gray and Associates and active advocate for Native businesses; and Oklahoma Secretary of State and Native American Affairs Chris Benge.
Benge focused on building momentum between the State of Oklahoma, tribal nations, and Native American-owned businesses.
“There is an increasing interest in the Native American culture and history, I think this can build momentum,” Benge said. “As we walk away from this place, when you move on to your businesses, I would like to leave that particular word with you: momentum, which can be developed with the state and tribal nations.”
Looking forward, Native entrepreneurs can plan on attending The Gathering next year, which will be held in Tulsa at the Hard Rock.
To learn more about the Choctaw-owned businesses mentioned in this article, visit, email, or call them at: Country Medical Supply, Shane Cessnun, shanecessnun@gmail.com, (903) 327-6515; Redland Sheet Metal, Sarah Adams-Cornell, sarah@redlandsheetmetal.com, (405) 673-7107; Mahar Manufacturing, Pam Mahar, pamla@mahar.net, (800) 224-8268.
Boyd Miller is available to assist Native or minority business owners interested in associating with the Choctaw Nation PSP. He can be reached at bmiller@choctawnation.com or (800) 522 6170 extension 2889.
Choctaw business owners looking to start or grow their business are welcome to contact Billy Hamilton with SBDS at bhamilton@choctawnation.com or (800) 522 6170 extension 2901.