Interview: Potawatomi tribes join forces for new business venture

Can you explain the new joint venture with Greenfire?

The joint venture was created specifically to pursue federal contracts. The joint venture was formed more specifically between Greenfire and 7GenAE with my expertise coming in on the construction end. There are plenty of opportunities with other tribes. Greenfire brings to us some bonding capacity that, as a young company, we don’t have.

What skills does each organization bring to the venture?

We share some cultural values that — when (they’re) applied to general business principles — make us a very attractive firm to work with. … Historically, tribal nations have (seen) years of struggles, but these two tribes in particular have found ways to sort of overcome the historical trauma and really come out of it well and with paths toward some prosperity. These two firms working together is a dynamic that I think you don’t see very often in the federal market.

Why the emphasis on federal contracting work?

It’s not a real easy thing to do. In the federal market, you’re only as good as your résumé and, moreover, your team. Our principal designer has a heavy federal background — as do I on the construction side. We have a good résumé. Greenfire has secured other federal projects as a construction management firm. When you combine these three entities together, we have a résumé that will win some work.