Oct. 25–FAIRBANKS — The rules may be changing for Alaska Native firms that have reaped billions in revenue from government contracting.
The U.S. Small Business Administration is preparing to revise its program for steering government work to small, minority-owned firms. This program has allowed some once-struggling Native corporations to blossom into some of Alaska’s largest businesses.
On Wednesday, a parade of Native leaders said the program is going well and accomplishing just what Congress intended, and they urged the agency not to substantively change it.
SBA officials responded at a daylong hearing that they must change the rules to improve oversight and make sure that U.S. taxpayers are getting the best value for their money.
Due to the special perks they get from the program, Alaska Native corporations have won work across the globe, from training security guards in Iraq, maintaining scanning machines at ports and borders, and operating search-and-rescue boats in the South Pacific.
The Native companies are the envy of other U.S. minority groups spanning the country. One of the more criticized of these perks — steered into federal law by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska — lets Alaska Native firms get contracts of any size from federal agencies without having to bid against competing companies.
Other minorities, such as Hispanics, blacks and women business owners, lack those perks.
