The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has established a market for themselves in government contracting services in the form of their own holding company Lumbee Holdings, Inc. (LH), located and headquartered in Pembroke, NC.
LH is a for profit arm of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Operated and fully owned by the Tribe, LH provides federal contracting services. Lumbee Tribal members fill key management positions across the enterprise including all four members of the LH Board of Directors.
“The Tribe itself started this entity in 2011 with the primary purpose of moving efforts into the federal marketplace and that’s what they did,” shared LH Chief Executive Officer Joshua D. Malcolm. “It’s a point of pride for us. Not only do we own this, but we're operating and managing it ourselves. It's not someone from San Francisco or Chicago or D.C for that matter managing this company. The Lumbee Holdings, Inc. family of companies is headquartered right here in the Town of Pembroke in Southeastern NC.”
Services provided by LH subsidiary companies include professional services, IT and program management support and construction related project management.
Malcolm shared that Lumbee Tribe Enterprises, LLC won its first major contract between 2016-2017 and the enterprise has been in business ever since with a specific focus on federal level work both in the U.S. and worldwide.
“Our primary customers have been and continue to be the US Department of State, the Department of Defense- and that includes the United States Marine Corps-and the Army.
We’ve done work for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and State overseas. Our substantial overseas presence includes
efforts throughout the Middle East and Africa. Fortunately for us, we’ve developed a reputation for being able to deliver excellent results in some of the
most difficult environments overseas where we have and continue to support the global efforts of the U.S. government,” shared Malcolm.
That international reach goes beyond just providing contract services. Malcolm has also been able to represent the company on an international stage, most recently by traveling to Warsaw, Poland as part of Lumbee’s membership with the International Stability Operations Association (ISOA). Malcolm spent several days in meetings with several primarily U.S. based companies who also have experience doing business overseas and doing business in countries in conflict. Attendees were able to hear from U.S. and international officials about challenges facing industries in their efforts to support Ukraine and other countries.
“At some point, I and most folks in the private industry anticipate, when the conflict stops then that assistance will include American companies going into the Ukraine to assist them,” shared Malcolm. “And, although we’re made up of HUBZone and 8(a) SBA certified small businesses headquartered in
Southeastern North Carolina, we project ourselves around the world and we do anticipate being a part of the solution to help the Ukrainians rebuild their country.”
According to the organization's website, more than 80 projects have been completed in more than 55 work facilities across more than four states.
Across all three of its subsidiaries, LH employs around 110 employees ranging from full to part time. Those employees are scattered across the east and west coast with contracts being managed in Southern California, Georgia, Virginia and the Washington D.C. areas. LH has also expanded into a second office located in Stafford, Virginia as a support to federal agencies and employees in the area.
Along with keeping a consistent number of contracts and employees, LH is also invested in helping to connect with the next generation of federal contract workers, working with local institutions of higher education to establish a pipeline, something that Malcom shared is another “point of pride” after working towards it for the past year and a half.
“We’ve been part of the North Carolina Apprentice Program for about 18 months. We’ve had up to three apprentices and those apprentices have come from Robeson Community College and University of North Carolina at Pembroke. And those folks aren’t just getting coffee and making copies, they’re providing real services in the IT space and in the business and accounting space as well and we’re looking to add another apprentice in the IT related area,” shared Malcolm.
Moving forward, Malcolm shared that a new mission for LH is to continue to expand their reach and partner with other small businesses across the State.
“That’s part of the strategic priorities that the LH Board of Directors has adopted. We’re continuing to grow and provide financial resources to our tribal government. We are actively working to extend a hand to other small companies that got started just like we did some years ago,” shared Malcolm. “It would be great if those small companies are owned by tribal members, but we're open to working with any small businesses or medium sized businesses in North Carolina that share our commitment to excellence and corporate values. We are absolutely open to collaborating with other companies to determine if there is a nexus where we can perhaps take their subject matter expertise and our wealth of past performance and work together to help a federal agency with some of their requirements. At the end of the day, it is our goal to help these federal agencies be good stewards of the federal tax dollars they are spending on behalf of our Nation.”
