(TULSA, Okla., Sept. 18, 2023) — Tulsa-based Blue Star Integrative Studio (Blue Star), an architecture and interior design consulting firm, has received HUBZone Program certification. Blue Star is part of Bodwé Professional Services Group of Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment enterprise of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi in Michigan.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) HUBZone Program promotes job growth, capital investment and economic development in historically underutilized business zones, called HUBZones. The program provides contracting assistance to small businesses located in economically distressed communities, including Indian reservations.
“Blue Star is excited to receive certification,” says Blue Star President Michal Biery, AIA, NCARB. "The HUBZone program is designed to do what we also seek to accomplish in our work in Tulsa and across the country to help develop sustainable communities.”
Blue Star meets all the SBA’s program requirements, including qualifying as a small business and being located within a HUBZone boundary. The federal government has a goal of awarding 3% of all dollars for prime contracts to HUBZone-certified concerns, and much of Oklahoma is classified as HUBZones due to its large tracts of tribal land.
"As a tribally-owned firm serving tribes across Indian Country as well as community organizations here in Tulsa, almost all the work we do is within a HUBZone,” adds Biery. “And as a Bodwé family of companies – a majority of our work is federal projects.”
Federal program benefits for HUBZone-certified companies include competitive and sole source contracting, a 10% price evaluation preference in full and open contract competitions, as well as subcontracting opportunities.
“HUBZone certification is part of the overall Bodwé strategy,” says Jeremy Berg, president and chief operating officer, Bodwé Group. “We are committed to the Tulsa market and our growth here helps achieve SBA goals. Additionally, HUBZone certification provides Blue Star and the Bodwé family another means to expand the work we do with federal agencies and partners across the country, much of which directly benefits underserved communities.”
ABOUT BLUE STAR INTEGRATIVE STUDIO
Blue Star Integrative Studio (320 S. Boston Avenue, Tulsa) is a tribally owned, Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE), HUBZone-certified, interdisciplinary design practice built on the belief in the power of place that comes from a long-term relationship between people and the land. Blue Star works with tribal, public and private clients, holding high standards for ourselves as well as the people and the projects we engage in, from architectural and interior design, to wayfinding, signage and graphics, to development consulting and master planning.
Learn more at https://www.bsi.studio/about
ABOUT BODWÉ PROFESSIONAL SERVICES GROUP
Bodwé is the Professional Services Group of Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment enterprise of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi. Bodwé Group is comprised of Seven Generations Architecture + Engineering, WBK Engineering, The Steelhead Engineering Company, and Blue Star Integrative Studio. Bodwé teams provide architecture, interior design, master planning, environmental consulting, and structural, civil, and MEP engineering design and staffing services. We partner with Indigenous, healthcare, federal and municipal government, community, and private clients across the country.
Learn more at: https://www.bodwegroup.com/about
ABOUT MNO-BMADSEN
Mno-Bmadsen is a wholly owned instrumentality of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, founded in 2012 and independently managed with the mandate to diversify the Tribe’s business interests, revenue streams, and wealth for future generations. The Mno-Bmadsen portfolio of actively managed operating companies includes Bodwé Professional Services Group, D.A. Dodd Construction Services Group, Mno-DREK Manufacturing Services Group, and Cressy Commercial Real Estate Services.
Learn more at: https://www.mno-bmadsen.com
