Hooghan LLC - a National Center APEX Accelerator client owned by Stanford Lake, a 40 Under 40 awardee - just reached over $2m contract sales in its third year working as a self-performing company.
"It wasn’t easy!" says Lake, who had a mission to return home to help build communities after his off-reservation higher education studies. In his mind he knew cultural competency was needed and the to build a business in a the vast - and challenging - undeveloped land. However, in his heart he felt confident delivering services into Navajo Nation, because that’s where he grew up. Hooghan LLC really got off the ground in 2023 amid challenges like high unemployment, poverty, and limited infrastructure and economic development.
Lake credits factors such as being involved with American Indian Science and Engineering Societ (AISES) in 2012 and earning The National Center's 40 Under 40 Award in 2012. His AISES student project in 2018 was forming a business. As an AISES project, Hooghan LLC was registered as an LLC at Arizona Corporation Commission with Stanford as its owner. However, Stanford primarily worked as a business partner with other companies for several years. In 2021, Stanford took two years off due to health reasons. After a doctor's release to go back to work, Stanford started Hooghan LLC full time in 2023.
That's when he realized as a business partner, it was difficult to obtain his dream to return services to his tribal nation. In 2023, he rebooted Hooghan LLC aligning operating model and organizational structure with future potential. While regaining momentum, Hooghan LLC was starting to pick up work on the Navajo Nation, contract after contract.
It was also in 2023, Hooghan LLC walked into The National Center APEX Accelerator office to sign up as a client. Hooghan LLC was immediately tasked to acquire skills that will teach how to compete in the federal marketplace and where to look for contracting opportunities. With further guidance, Hooghan LLC worked hard to prepare for and participate in the Business Matchmaking event at the 2023 Reservation Economic Summit (RES). Armed with what he learned through the APEX Accelerator and a strong capabilities statement, Lake secured appointments with buyers.
Leading up to matchmaking, Hooghan LLC learned the Navajo Tribal Government buyer that was on must-meet list had vehicle problems in St. George, Utah while driving to Las Vegas for RES. Nonetheless, Hooghan LLC ensured the meeting happened with Navajo Nation buyer who arrived at RES the day after matchmaking event. Through this meeting, the trust factor between Hooghan LLC and Navajo Tribal Government buyer was formed ... many miles away from the buyer's (and Stanford's) homeland.
In 2024, Hooghan LLC received $1.67 million and an additional $400K contracts from Navajo Nation for the Ts'ah Bii Kin Chapter (Inscription House) - community projects managed by the Navajo Nation Government Buyer Lake met at RES. Soon other tribal communities across the Navajo Nation followed suit with contract awards to Hooghan LLC, eventually reaching $2 million in contracts. Today, engineering design, drone UAS, and construction project management are the backbone of the company and staff expansion is in the works.
One of those new staff members is Stanford's daughter, Shandiin, who followed father's footsteps obtaining a degree in interior design and currently in a masters-level architectural program in Los Angeles. She still travels home to the Navajo Reservation to sit at the meeting tables with chapter officials and Navajo leadership. That’s how Hooghan LLC will lead the next generation of Native professionals to give back to the tribal communities.
"Thank you for teaching me how to build relationships with important decision-makers in government contracting by getting me in front of buyers," Lake told Mabel Tsosie, Navajo Area National Center APEX Accelerator Procurement Specialist. "Thank you for teaching me how to put together a concise description of services with our capabilities statement and website content, which you provided feedback on until they were all aesthetically pleasing and creating marketing that speaks to our business's competencies."
To learn more about Hooghan LLC, go to https://hooghanllc.com/.
