Cherokee Nation Celebrates Biggest Contract The Defense Department has awarded Cherokee Nation Businesses its largest federal contract ever, a two-year, $40 million deal to sustain and service military hardware. Under the contract, the Cherokee Nation’s security and defense group will provide logistics services to support military hardware. CNB will be hiring 10 to 20 engineers, program managers, program analysts and technicians. Work will be performed inside the Cherokee Nation’s 14-county jurisdiction in Oklahoma and at several DOD sites. “We’re going to do as much of the work on the contract as we can in northeastern Oklahoma, creating well-paying local jobs,” said David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Businesses. “To effectively execute the contract, we’ll also need an on-site presence at the DOD location in order to better support our customer and to open the door to future strategic acquisitions.” “Contracts like this show just how far the Cherokee Nation has come in the past 12 years,” said Chad Smith, principal chief. In 1999 the tribal businesses garnered revenue of about $3 million a year. “Since then, we’ve added 5,000 jobs, and now we’re bringing $40 million defense contracts to northeastern Oklahoma,” Smith said in a news release. “We get contracts like this because we care about our people, about creating jobs and providing services to our citizens here in the Cherokee Nation.” The nation is Oklahoma’s largest tribe, according to the Tulsa World. The tribal businesses have a longstanding presence in the security and defense sector. CNB subsidiary Cherokee Nation Industries in Stillwell, OK, was recently recognized with Gold Status, Boeing’s highest vendor rating. Other subsidiaries provide services ranging from accounting to metalwork and electronic aircraft parts.