Native firms start PR campaign against contracting probe

For now, the coalition is targeting Alaskans with a multimedia educational campaign -- called "Native 8(a) Works" -- but it could take a broader tack if members of Congress file legislation that is harmful to the firms, according to the campaign organizers.

The coalition formed after Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., opened an investigation of Alaska Native corporations' federal contracting privileges, which are part of the federal Small Business Administration's 8(a) program for minority-owned, socially disadvantaged companies. McCaskill raised concerns about potential contracting abuses that harm taxpayers.

Her investigation is focused on the Native firms' ability to obtain federal contracts of any dollar amount and contracts without competitive bidding. The companies landed nearly $24 billion in work over the past eight years, she said. Their contracts range from providing catering services and security guards at military bases to database management for large federal agencies.

McCaskill's government oversight committee held a hearing in July on Native contracting and issued a report stating that the benefits to Native shareholders "may not be in proportion to the potential for waste, fraud and abuse" created by the firms' contracting privileges.

The Native corporations disagree. Their revenue growth in recent years is a sign that the program is working, not that it's failing, according to the PR campaign, started by Afognak Native Corp., Chenega Corp., Chugach Alaska Corp., Koniag Inc. and NANA Regional Corp. The coalition lists roughly 40 members, including many Native corporation or tribal-owned companies that specialize in government contracting.

The campaign so far is publishing video clips on the Internet and sending Alaska Native executives to public events around the state.

The coalition contends that their firms' success in contracting has allowed them to boost their shareholder dividends, create new scholarships and provide jobs for thousands of Alaskans. The contracting privileges were inserted by former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, and they are also available to qualified Lower 48 tribes and Native Hawaiian companies, but not any other minority groups.

McCaskill's committee report said shareholders held just 5 percent of the jobs at 19 Alaska Native corporations that provided data this year to the committee.

But the coalition points out that government contracting has helped Alaska Native companies become an important source of jobs in Alaska. Fifteen Native corporations employ 12,000 Alaskans and another 40,000 people worldwide, said Clyde Gooden, a former NANA subsidiary executive, who spoke at Monday's Anchorage Chamber of Commerce luncheon downtown as part of a panel speaking of the coalition's efforts.

The coalition has hired MSI Communications, an Anchorage public relations firm, to run the "Native 8(a) Works" campaign. "McCaskill was criticizing that we had expanded outside Alaska. But we were never restricted to just Alaska," Laurie Fagnani, president of MSI, said later Monday.

A McCaskill spokeswoman said Monday that the senator is still working on the Native contracting issue.

"Reform in this area is going to happen. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when," said Maria Speiser, McCaskill's press secretary.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.