Alaksa Native Corporations -- More
An Alaska native corporation criticized in a federal review for playing loose with procurement set-asides has hired a new president.
FrederickNewsPost.com reporter Justin M. Palk said that Goldbelt Raven, one of two ANCs under examination by the IG at the Small Business Administration, is scrambling to keep its contract for research and development support services at Fort Detrick.
Government Inc. had this last week:
"The two ANCs in question came on strong over the last several years, securing federal work worth up to $833 million contracts, much of it without any competition. Many of you already know that ANCs -- established three decades ago to help economic development in Alaska and settle native land claims to the federal government -- can win sole-source contracts of any amount."
Here's the story that ran in the Post.
Just FYI: ANCs sound arcane. They're not. They offer extraordinary procurement shortcuts and a chance to help disadvantaged people in Alaska -- and the opportunity for contracting mischief in Washington.
Stay tuned.
By Robert O'Harrow |
August 25, 2008; 3:09 PM ET
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Posted by: Jimmy Johnson | August 26, 2008 3:30 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
If by saying ANCs are "arcane", you mean "understood by few" - then I would agree.
If ANCs break the law, they should face the consequences. No corporation is above the law.
However, those with an agenda other than normal oversight push the intense spotlight of scrutiny that has cloaked the ANC operations. ANCs have committed the worst crime imaginable for certain powerful corporations... they have succeeded! If ANCs were not successfully winning contracts away from government contractors with political ties, these investigations would not be happening.
Indian policy has been the same for years. "Yes, let's put in place programs to help the Indians be self-sufficient. Wait! Now they're making too much money - we need to take it back."
ANC are not like other for-profit corporations. They have multiple bottom lines. One for profit, one for Native values, one for the environment, one for the community, which includes their shareholders.
When ANCs succeed, the money doesn't go to one person, one family or a small group of people. The money benefits thousands of Natives and the communities they serve. Some of the large Alaska Native corporations such as Sealaska pay dividends to as many as 20,000 shareholder tribal members. The money goes into revitalizing culture, saving endangered languages and providing scholarships to Native students.
If ANCs break the law, then they should pay. But, don't make them pay for working the system that nearly extinguished them as a people. Don't make them pay for lifting themselves up from the strength of their convictions. Generations of Indians have already paid the price... so they can survive another day and one day provide a better life for their children and grandchildren.