Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

Denny Clark, Lumbee, returned to his hometown of Pembroke after 22 years in the Navy and 14 years in private business. He was looking for a way to use his knowledge and experience to provide more economic opportunities for his people and homeland. He noticed workmen laying fiber optic cable near the railroad track in Pembroke. He discovered that fiber optic cable runs north-south as well as east-west in Pembroke, and that Pembroke is a terminus (one of only nine in the nation) for fiber optic cable. He was told that practically nobody uses the terminus or even knows of its existence.
By additional inquiry and networking, Clark found a way to use the fiber optic terminus in Pembroke. He and an Onondaga friend, Dr. Howard Whetzel, along with Bob Bowe, pooled their ideas, talents, and resources to purchase the McLean Research Corporation, which had been set up for the Yupik Eskimos as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to compensate them for running an oil pipeline through their territory. The corporation's shareholders were the Yupik people, and the people would received any profits--but thus far the corporation had made no profits. The corporation also qualified for certain business advantages from the federal government.

Clark and his associates took over management of the corporation (although its shareholders are still the Yupik people). McLean Research Corporation is headquartered in Pembroke. The company held an open house on February 11, 2000, to introduce future leaders, educators, potential business clients, and others to the corporation's objectives. The company hopes to help businesses convert data from hard to digitized formats, then store it, back it up, and protect it. Clark also wants to use the fiber optic terminus in Pembroke to connect all tribes to each other. See McLean Research Corporation's web site at www.mrcnet.com