FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BY UKB Corporate Board
October 21, 2020
Keetoowah Construction Incorporated (KCI) is pleased to announce the development of four community/health center facilities for the United Keetoowah Band districts as a response to the COVID pandemic to be built with CARES Act funds allocated by the tribal council resolution 20-UKB-63.
Council Representatives Sharon Benoit for Goingsnake District, Peggy Girty for Illinois District, Eddie Sacks for Canadian District and Barry Dotson for Seqouyah District have each signed letters of intent with KCI to kick off construction in their respective areas.
“These private-public partnerships with the tribe are exactly what KCI and the Corporate Board were developed for” said Jamie Thompson, Chair of the Corporate Board and UKB Assistant Chief. “We have been working on putting something like this together since we heard the COVID funds were going to be given to tribes. KCI will be able to expend the COVID money as it was intended and provide a long-term asset to our communities.”
The plan is to provide a space where the tribe can provide mobile testing and shelter if needed out in the communities. Each building will have internet access for telehealth and educational purposes said KCI director Rick Glory, who is also working with counselors to try and provide quarantine housing onsite.
KCI board member Sammy Allen he was pleased that KCI secured the commitment from the tribal side, and he is excited to provide services that the tribe needs and to provide local Keetoowahs jobs during the construction period.
Thompson added that these KCI will keep the funds in the tribe and in our local communities, which will boost local economies, and they will provide jobs for the Keetoowah people.
“I am glad that the four councilors had the foresight to reach out and work with KCI and the Board to provide for our people. Hopefully a few more [council members] come on board and we will be able to expend the COVID funds in a smart, planned and expedient matter so we do not have to return any back to the Federal government in December,” Thompson said.
The planning has begun on all four facilities, and construction on all four is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
For more information, contact the UKB Corporate Board at 918-871-2805.
