By Doris Wedge
The Norman Transcript

Chickasaw Nation Industries, the multi-hundred million dollar economic development arm of the tribe, will soon have a presence in Norman, as they bring together employees now housed at various locations in the Oklahoma City area into their new Norman corporate headquarters. The tribe has purchased the building that was constructed several years ago by Saxon Publishing.

“CNI is a very rapidly growing company, in constant need of space,” president and CEO Deryl Wright said. “When we first went out to look at the building, we were just looking to lease some space.”

There were plans to build a headquarters in the Oklahoma City area “somewhere south of the river, in the historical boundaries of the tribe.”

At the Saxon facility, they found a building that can accommodate as many as 200 of their professional and administrative staff.

Working with Don Wood of the Norman Economic Development Coalition, CNI is looking at the 44 acres that were a part of the Saxon property, now owned by NEDC.

“We began to craft ideas.” Wright said, “And our vision for the development of the land were very similar. Looking at the possibilities, and in discussion with OU and others in the Norman area, we are interested in creating a technology campus” and being an active part of the technology corridor growing along Highway 9 in east Norman.

Now in the early planning stages, he says “if things work out as we envision it, we could have as many as 700 to 1,000 professional level jobs in Norman.”

Wood points out NEDC did not have a role in bringing CNI to Norman, but “NEDC is ready to help in any way possible so that we can grow that enterprise and bring more jobs to Norman.”

CNI was chartered about 10 years ago strictly as an economic development engine of the tribe.

“Our work is done mostly in the government contracting arena,” Wright explained. “We have found tremendous opportunities to make money and bring it back to Oklahoma.”

CNI now has 2,000 employees nationwide, working in all 50 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico and South Korea.

The scope of the contracting is wide, with past and current projects including remodeling the hangar where Air Force One is housed at Andrews Air Force Base, building a wing at the prison where Martha Stewart spent a few months and managing the inventory of items to go to the international space station for NASA.
“We supply the dentists and support staff to the U.S. Army in North America, and the technical staff for the Army Corps of Engineers in Florida working in the Everglades, and we have several hundred people at Mike Monroney Center to support the FAA,” Wright said.

They most recently secured a contract that has created 150 new jobs in Oklahoma City, a number that is likely to grow. Their responsibility will be to recover Medicare/Medicaid money for the government.

“If a doctor bills the federal government for services that should have been paid by a third party, our contract is to go out and recapture those funds and put it back into the U.S. treasury.”

Securing and administering the many contracts requires a large professional staff. The CNI executive branch, legal, accounting, sales and marketing and operations people will comprise the first 150 to 200 of the jobs that will move to the Norman facility. When an additional facility is constructed, the number will reach 1,000 or more.

CNI will make a payment in lieu of taxes on the property “because we believe in supporting the services of the community. And we have the responsibility to the community of paying our employees well,” he added.

Last year CNI was named one of the top three companies to work for in the state of Oklahoma, and it is considered one of the top employers when interviewing on college campuses throughout the nation.

Wright said 18 percent of CNI employees are Native American, and that number doesn’t include himself, “a red-headed Scotsman.”

Wright describes himself as “a technology guy” who was employed by the Chickasaw Tribe as information officer working at the Ada tribal headquarters. Born in Oklahoma, he left when 6 months old and was reared in southern California. The grandfather of five, he was working in Chicago and wanting to move south when the opportunity opened up for him with the Chickasaws six years ago. He welcomed the opportunity when Gov. Bill Anoatubby offered him the pivotal position with CNI. Confirmed by the tribal legislature, he reports to a board of directors.

Wright and his wife have purchased land and will build a home in Norman.