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Eve Tahmincioglu

Primary author Eve Tahmincioglu has been covering small business and entrepreneurship for more than a decade. She regularly writes about small business issues for the New York Times and BusinessWeek's SmallBiz magazine. She also writes the Your Career column for MSNBC.com. She is the author of "From the Sandbox to the Corner Office."



Government drops Katrina ball; small business suffers

Posted: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 6:58 AM by Eve Tahmincioglu
Filed Under: , ,

Let’s say there’s a horrific natural disaster in your town. Don’t you think it would make sense to have the small businesses in that community get the bulk of government contracts to rebuild the community?
 
Duh!
 
Alas, it’s not a “duh” to the federal government.
 
Last week, the House Small Business Committee reported that the government dropped the ball when it came to this very simple concept: Let Gulf Coast small businesses share big time in the reconstruction efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

You can see Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., grilling officials from the six government agencies that are now under fire for their contracting practices on YouTube. Watch them squirm.

The hearing, titled “Disaster Planning and Recovery: Are We Ready for Another Katrina" took place Thursday and reviewed the government’s crummy job of giving small businesses and entrepreneurs in the region a substantial chunk of the already $2 billion spent there.

The hearing and report got little media attention, but it’s important for all of us to keep an eye on this.
 
Velazquez appears to be staying focused on the issue. In April, her committee held a hearing in New Orleans to address contracting in the region and found local small business did not get prime contracts. Instead, they were being awarded to big out-of-state firms.

Velazquez brought in representatives from six government agencies that beat the drum for small business: the Small Business Administration, Government Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
“I have to say, I am disappointed with the submitted testimony,” she said prior to hearing from the government groups. “Not one of the agencies testifying today has made local small business a priority.”
 
No kidding. In a reversal of fortune, the Small Business Committee figures actually showed that $55 million was taken away from the little guys since April alone.
 
One of the biggest buying agencies, the GSA, awarded three contracts in the Gulf Coast area, and only 0.6 percent in contracting dollars went into the coffers of local entrepreneurs.
 
There also was a bit of monkey business, or whatever you want to call it. The six agencies gave a combined $100 million in contracts falsely labeled as small business contracts that actually went to large corporations.
 
I get e-mails from Velazquez all the time about her many crusades to help small businesses, and while I’m always a bit skeptical about the effectiveness of politicians, at least she keeps stirring the pot.
 
“These agencies need to understand that this is not about making it look like they are working with the local small businesses,” says Velazquez in a statement following the hearing. “It is about making the Gulf Coast small firms the centerpiece of this recovery.”
 
At the risk of sounding repetitive – Duh!

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Comments

What do you expect, The whole operation in New Orleans has been based on Lies and Kickbacks. The only people that are making any money is President Bush and his friends in his 100,000.00 Club which is  controled by Carl Rove, and He is above the law and Congress. As long these people remain in office and people keep their heads in the sand, then expect no less than the screwing we are getting from the federal government.

Steve Perkins (Sent Tuesday, August 07, 2007 3:47 PM)

It is now 2 years after the hurricane WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE STILL LIVING IN GOVERNMENT TRAILERS.. GET A JOB!! Cut off the free lunch

Brian Buchanan (Sent Tuesday, August 07, 2007 8:20 PM)

Why do the libs keep living in the past.....they do everything possible to keep katrina alive, even though the dem government in La was mostly to blame.

Ken Jerstad, Poplar Grove, IL (Sent Tuesday, August 07, 2007 9:24 PM)

I just came back from New Orleans 2 weeks ago and New Orleans looks like Katrina hit yesterday.  It is sad to see an american city in such horrible condition.

Yvonne, Chula Vista, CA (Sent Tuesday, August 07, 2007 9:39 PM)

President bush jumped all over he bridge collapse in Minnesota.Two ye3ars later than Katrina and New Orleans still looks like a disaster area.Shame on you,G.W.Bush.

norbert marcinek Chino Valley,az. (Sent Tuesday, August 07, 2007 11:34 PM)

The bottom line is whether you're a Repug or a Liberal, we need New Orleans.  The loss of refineries during the storm is one of the reasons why your gas costs so much now.  We need to get it back on line.  New Orleans is a port city and it is vitally important - railroads, the Mississippi River and shipping - all use NOLA as a point of connection to other parts of the USA.  NOLA is one of our least expensive ports to interact with...if it goes, so goes the nation.  So you can sit on your high horse and THINK that you are playing politics with the big boys (you're not) if you want to, but NOLA is more than just Bourbon Street, and Mardi Gras...get a good book, and learn something.  Small business development is how this country grows, and using small businesses to help NOLA and the other gulf communities devastated as a result of Katrina is smart business!!  

John Doe, Savannah, GA (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 12:10 AM)

Shame on our goverment awarding the majority or contract to big business. This administration has done nothing but look rediclious in the eyes of Americans but also the whole world.  

Kitty Ochipinti San Diego, Ca. (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 12:11 AM)

This is a mess that continues to escalate.  I think the Katrina aftermath was worse than the storm.

Grant Temple, New Orleans, LA (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 12:25 AM)

FEMA has essentially purchased and used millions of dollars in hazardous trailers. The funds cannot be recovered, and the affected persons will experience a lifetime of misery. Politicians do what we let them do. Dishonest and unproductive employees are generally dismissed, why not get rid of politicians who are not acting in the best interests of the citizens. When we permit insensitive and unethical behavior we all suffer, directly, in the long run.

Bill Snellings, Detroit, Mich. (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 6:54 AM)

you know something--i've had about all of new orleans and katrina i can stand.  what happened in south carolina the year they were devastated by a hurricane? did they sit back on there hands and cry and beg the "federal government" to bail them out?   i think not--it seems to me the state and the people who were hit went to work and restored their own property.   what about florida?   they get hit every year---i don't hear them crying and moaning about how the "federal government" owes them a place to live and the "federal government" needs to build them back.  I am also tired of people in this nation griping and complaining about our presidents-- if you want things to change, get those old gray headed relics out of the house and senate---they are the ones who "rule" this nation.  Even if a president wanted to help this nation he can't, cause they tie his hands and we sit back and let them. VOTE THEM OUT!!!  Get some new blood with some sense of what the people really want.
Now --- if you have been hit with a disaster and you need help--talk to your state government. STOP expecting the Federal Government to solve all your problems. Do something yourself!!  Personally I am getting tired of paying other people's bills.

FEED UP (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 12:48 PM)

Why did New Orleans and Louisianna wait on the Feds in the first place? If you trace down some of the $$ that have been appropriated for La., you'll see that it's already diappeared into the LA politicians' pockets. How dumb can the people from LA and New Orleans be? You elect the same people after they screwed you before, during and after the storm. So why is the rest of America responsible for repairing the damage?

rowen (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 1:24 PM)

This message is for the Brian Buchanan & Ken Jerstad's of the U.S. this article was about small business's of the Gulf Coast. My point is if they could get their business up & running they would have a job. Unless you have been to the Gulf Coast post Katrina you should not comment. I lived in Plaquemines Parish LA. Katrina's first target, I didn't just loose a home I lost a whole community, no one was spared no home church business or school, everything was gone. Try going home to nothing but rubble, do you thin you can rebuild 50 miles of towns in two years, I think not. So before you 've lived through it I wouldn't be so quick to judge.

Disa, Buras, LA. (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 2:52 PM)

As the disaster of Katrina has unfolded I have watched in disbelief that politicians of the largest and richest democracy in the world have not quickly and efficiently rebuilt New Orleans.  It hasn't been because I believe that US politicians are any less incompetant or less corrupt than any others world wide, its just that this has been played out on television round the world.  You would think that they would be like the rest of us ordinary citizens and feel empathy for all victims of disasters.  Apparently they do not.  They do not appear to even have a sense of pride or concern about how history will judge them.    

Janet Anning, Deal, Kent, UK (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 3:13 PM)

i,m single and a victim of katrina. i lost everything and fema nor the gov't has done anything for me since i was evacuated to columbus, ohio. i'm stuck here and working a minimun wage job. this i blame on the politicians from new orleans. if they have done what's been done in florida each year, i wouldn't be in this situation.

robby h. (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 3:24 PM)

You can blame the government all that you want, however it won't make a difference. It's time for individual citizens to make a stand for them self instead of waiting for FEMA or the government to do something. You'll be waiting a long time if you depend on the government.

Alex, Bowling Green, Kentucky (Sent Wednesday, August 08, 2007 6:30 PM)

HELLO,
small Bussinessmen or women don't have the resource's to offer a big enough BRIBE to get the work.

William Chaffey, Drury Mo. (Sent Friday, August 10, 2007 2:58 PM)



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