The Gulf Coast Continues To Get Screwed By The Federal Government

Well, this is a little disturbing. Remember when Bush and his adminstration promised to help rebuild the Gulf Coast, including it’s economy? Remember how “reconstruction” was going to boost the Gulf Coasts local economy?

Companies outside the three states most affected by Hurricane Katrina have received more than 90 percent of the money from prime federal contracts for recovery and reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, according to an analysis of available government data. [“Gulf Firms Losing Contracts (Washington Post)”]

Among the contracts analyzed, 3.8 percent of the money went to companies that listed an Alabama address, 2.8 percent to firms in Louisiana and just 1.8 percent went for Mississippi contractors. Taken together, that amounts to less than $200 million. [“Gulf Firms Losing Contracts (Washington Post)”]

It’s not surprising that locals and local officials are unhappy with this raw deal. They rightfuly fear that most of the money will flow out of state and out of an area that was already economically suffering before Hurricane Katrina.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that as of early last week, 72 percent of the $1.6 billion that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had committed so far to contracts for Hurricane Katrina relief went to small firms nationwide in either prime or subcontracts, said department spokesman Larry Orluskie. But he said only 6 percent of the funds have gone to companies in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — a region where small firms make up a disproportionately large share of the economy. [“Gulf Firms Losing Contracts (Washington Post)”]

I keep thinking of the old saying about how if you give a man a fish, he’ll be hungry tomorrow but if you teach a man to fish, he’ll feed himself. The Gulf Coast needs help rebuilding but it shouldn’t be done for them by outside businesses that will take the money away and then abandon the area. The Gulf Coast needs to rebuild it’s own structure and the government needs to help them do that, not by providing overpriced contractors who underpay locals and take the profits somewhere else, but by giving local companies the chance to survive — plus, I’m willing to bet that local companies are more interested in doing things right because at the end of it all, they’ll still be there in the community.

Meanwhile, many local firms that want to work with the government say they continue to meet with frustration. Kendall Prewett said he has been trying for weeks to get government subcontracting work for his Mississippi-based debris removal firm, B & P Enterprises, but that neither the government nor the prime contractor, Florida-based AshBritt Inc., is returning his calls. “I don’t understand why all these people not from here are working, and the Mississippi contractors aren’t,” he said.

AshBritt referred requests for comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which said it is encouraging the award of subcontracting work to local companies. [“Gulf Firms Losing Contracts (Washington Post)”]

Hmmmm…so it’s not like people can just say all of those Southern people are all lazy and want everything done for them and handed to them by the government like I’ve been hearing/reading of late. There are people who want to work, want to help their communities, and want to get on with their lives, but the government is ignoring them in favor of bigger, more expensive, outside companies…makes a lot of sense really when you consider how much money FEMA spent driving all that ice around the country only to part it in New England.

Even so, the overall small percentage of contracts with local firms “suggests a lack of advance planning to tap local small business partners in an effective disaster response strategy,” Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), who chairs the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said in a statement. [“Gulf Firms Losing Contracts (Washington Post)”]

Have I mentioned lately how much I like Olympia Snowe?

tags: Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina, economy, Homeland Security, Olympia Snowe

One comment

1. on October 4, 2005 at 2:06 pm

   Tamara said:

   Oy. That is ridiculous. And probably off the radar of most of the country (including me — so thanks for sharing!)

   Snowe rocks, I agree! If I ever had the opportunity to vote for a candidate like her, I might actually find myself voting for an R. Hard to imagine!

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