Deryl Wright describes how this Indian tribe went from making less than $1 million five years ago to nearly $400 million today.

Deryl Wright originally joined the Chickasaw Nation as CIO in 2001 and enjoyed his techie job, so when the tribe asked him to lead Chickasaw Nation Industries (CNI) into profitability as CEO, he politely declined. At the time, CNI, a business unit of the tribe formed in 1996, had seven employees and was still making under $1 million. But thankfully for the Chickasaw Nation, the tribal leader, Governor Anoatubby, walked in on the conversation.

“When the gentlemen I was talking with told the governor they were trying to convince me to take the job, he looked at me and asked, ‘When are you going to start?’ I replied, ‘When would you like me to, sir?’ At that point, I couldn’t say no,” said Wright. And it’s a good thing he didn’t. Today, Ada, Okla.-based CNI employs nearly 2,500 people, mostly of Chickasaw descent, throughout 14 companies. Together, they will generate nearly $400 million this year.

Deryl Wright

Reallocating the eggs
According to Wright, in the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson initiated the movement of Native American tribes away from their homelands into “Indian Territory.” But when oil was discovered in the late 1800s, all the tribes were dissolved, and the territory became the state of Oklahoma. In the 1930s, realizing its mistake, the US government created the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, which enabled the tribes to reconstitute in the form of a corporation or a government. The Chickasaw Tribe chose to model itself after the US federal system, complete with judicial, legislative, and executive branches. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is the 13th largest federally recognized tribe in the US with more than 38,000 members.

Nearly 40 years later, the US government recognized the need for Native American tribes to secure income and allowed all tribes that had chosen to form governments to develop corporations. In response, the Chickasaw Tribe launched CNI in 1996 with $50,000. “It gave us a tool with which we could make money to build schools and senior centers, create scholarships, provide healthcare services, and deliver many other tribal services,” said Wright.

Like many tribes, the Chickasaw have experienced success operating casinos, but several years ago, Governor Anoatubby recognized that success won’t last forever. “At some point, other commercial operations will open casinos, and we’ll lose our position in the gaming industry,” explained Wright. As a result, the governor asked Wright to reinvest profits to grow CNI and diversify the tribe’s income. He said, “Deryl, some day CNI will have to replace the gaming revenue we enjoy today. Help us get all of our eggs out of this basket.”

Finding focus
For several years prior to Wright joining CNI, the company dabbled in several businesses but couldn’t get off the ground. It wanted to grow through acquisition, so local businesspeople preparing for retirement would offer up their mom-and-pop shops. “We didn’t know what we wanted to be, which is why we didn’t grow. I knew we wouldn’t be successful taking over dog grooming businesses or car washes, but I saw opportunity in government contracting,” said Wright.

To secure government contracts, an entity must be able to demonstrate past experience, and that’s where CNI has an advantage: the tribe has experience running government-like services. For instance, the Chickasaw Tribe operates a large hospital and dental care facility for its members, which involves the recruitment and retention of qualified dentists. CNI leveraged that past performance to land a contract with the Department of Defense in which it provides all of the dentists to the US Army in the 48 continental states.

Although government contracting is a steady, secure path to follow, it is not an effective way to grow quickly, as the government can take years to grant contracts. “The best way to grow quickly is by acquiring larger 8(a) companies,” said Wright, explaining that the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program was created to help small, disadvantaged companies compete. He determined that any acquisition needed to possess the potential to generate more than $100 million per year in revenue. “That got us focused on the big leagues.”

CNI’s first acquisition was Oklahoma City-based DataCom Sciences, Inc., now CNI Information Technology. The division will generate more than $200 million in 2007, a huge leap from the $30 million it was making when it was purchased four years ago. “We folded DataCom’s past performance into ours to potentially win additional contracts,” said Wright.

Since then, CNI has brought a number of 8(a) and non-8(a) companies under its umbrella, including CNI Construction, CNI Administration Services, CNI Aviation, CNI Manufacturing, CNI Medical Services, Chickasaw Advisory Services, and All Points Logistics. Today, the company has employees in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and South Korea.

Although from the outside, it appears as though CNI is still a bit confused as to what direction it wants to take, Wright said the company is right on track. “When you boil it down, we are all about project management and providing and retaining staffing for the federal government,” said Wright.

“Under Boeing, we have an inventory management contract for NASA—if it goes into space, it has a CNI inventory tag on it. But how does that relate to dentists? It still involves recruiting and retaining talent and administering the program itself. The people we hire to do inventory management are quite different than dentists, but how we treat them and how we handle the contract is exactly the same.”

CNI knows how to treat people well, as evidenced by its less than 1% turnover rate and its ranking as one of the top three companies to work for in Oklahoma. In addition to fair pay scales and benefits, the company offers its employees wellness programs and tuition reimbursement. Employees can also participate in CNI University, an internal training program that offers classes covering topics from Chickasaw history to compliance issues and what it means to work for a tribe.

According to Wright, some employees under direct government contracts don’t always get to participate in such programs, but if CNI can work it into the contract, it will. “We truly believe that our people are our greatest asset. As a result, people love working here.”