Every year, Calista Corporation runs a 10-week summer internship program for Calista shareholders. So for the past two summers, Brice 8(a) companies, Brice Engineering and Brice Environmental have had the pleasure of one such intern—Kasila Carey of Aniak, Alaska.
Kasila is a senior at the Chaminade University of Honolulu. She majors in Business Administration and minors in Computer Information Systems. Born and raised in Anchorage, her family originates from Aniak, a small Calista village with a population of just under 600 people. The Kuskokwin River runs through the area, where as child, Kasila spent her summers fishing with her family. Now as a college student, she spends her summers as a Calista intern providing administrative support.
“…The [intern] program has helped me apply my classroom learning in a real setting. And working here, I feel like a part of something big; part of a family. Everyone is so nice and makes me feel like I belong here…I got offered a full-time job and will work here for a while before I go to graduate school at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. I plan to get my master’s in Native American and Indigenous Studies. My career goal is to be CEO of an ANC.”
Brice’s Sarah Nutt has been Kasila’s mentor and supervisor these past two summers. “…[Kasila] is a model employee who is eager to learn and work hard at any task in front of her regardless of the perceived importance…We look forward to her return next year.”
We love having our Calista interns each summer. It’s a nice way to connect with our mission, and directly with our Calista shareholders as well, said Pat Johnston, Director of Administration.
As an ANC 8(a) firm, Brice is eligible to receive sole source contracts regardless of dollar size, with no upper limit, compared with traditional 8(a) enterprises which are held to a sole source contract limit of $4 million.