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The Washington Post has published an series of examinations of Alaska Native corporations and contracts they've obtained under the federal Small Business Administration's Native 8(a) contracting program. Alaska Beat must confess we haven't read it all yet (it really is huge), and we're sorry for not being able to give a detailed summary. We do know, however, that the centerpiece contains several familiar topics of criticism for the corporations and the program, including, most prominently, the high rate of compensation for non-Native executives, managers and consultants, the persistent relative poverty of shareholders and, of course, the non-competitive process by which such corporations are awarded large federal contracts. After Sept. 11, 2001, billions went to the corporations, but little of the cash seems to have gone to shareholders, the Post notes. Read the centerpiece, here, and be sure to go to the project's splash page, which holds links to all of the related stories and includes notice of an online Q and A session with the lead writer beginning today at 7 a.m. AKDT.
When Alaska Beat checked our inbox this morning, we found a response to the stories from the advocacy group "Native 8(a) Works" had sent out: "Sections of the stories are misleading and repeat common misperceptions surrounding the 8(a) program. Click here to see an accurate depiction of the program."