['BusNative]

Kiinda dated, but not vetted on BP. You think this is what the McCain ads mean when they state that he would be better for small business?

Inspector General Questions Blackwater Small Business Contracts :: Committee on Oversight and Government Reform :: United States House of Representatives

Re: SBA IG Finds Blackwater May Have Misrepresented Small Business Status

On March 10,2008, Chairman Waxman wrote to the Small Business Administration (SBA) requesting that the agency investigate whether Blackwater Worldwide, a company that has received more than a billion dollars in government contracts since the start of the war in Iraq, improperly obtained contracts intended for small businesses.! As detailed in a memorandum attached to that letter, it appeared that Blackwater incorrectly categorized many of its security personnel as "independent contractors" rather than "employees" in order to qualify for small business set asides.

In response to Chairman Waxman's request, on March 14,2008, Small Business

Administrator Steven Preston requested that the SBA Inspector General investigate the matter. Today the SBA IG released a report concluding that Blackwater may have misrepresented its small business status in order to obtain 39 contracts worth more than $100 million.

The Associated Press: Audit questions millions in Blackwater contracts

Audit questions millions in Blackwater contracts

By MIKE BAKER - Jul 28, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide and its affiliates may have misrepresented their size to win more than $100 million in government contracts set aside for small businesses, federal auditors said Monday.

A report by the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General questioned the agency's decision to approve Blackwater as a small business even though there were signs the company could be much larger than executives claimed.

In fiscal 2005 through 2007, Blackwater and affiliates won 32 small business contracts worth more than $2.1 million even though the work was restricted to companies with revenue of $6.5 million or less, according to the audit. One contract had a revenue ceiling of $750,000. Meanwhile, Blackwater's airline affiliate Presidential Airways won more than $107 million in contracts set aside for companies with revenues of less than $25.5 million or fewer than 1,500 employees...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/bu...l?ref=business

August 12, 2008

Auditors Question Blackwater Contracts

By ELIZABETH OLSON
WASHINGTON - Blackwater Worldwide, the contractor whose provision of private security in Iraq has been under scrutiny, and its affiliated companies may have improperly obtained more than $100 million in contracts meant for small businesses, according to federal auditors.

A report by the Small Business Administration's inspector general, issued in July, found that Blackwater and its affiliates, including Presidential Airways, won 39 contracts in the fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007 despite indications that the companies employed more than the number specified by the federal government. In some cases, the report said, the companies also had higher revenues than allowed for a small business.

Blackwater is a major provider of security for American diplomats in Iraq and was the subject of a Congressional hearing after a Blackwater shooting in Baghdad last September left 17 Iraqis dead.

Blackwater and Presidential Airways, both based in Moyock, N.C., and owned by EP Investments, of McLean, Va., won 31 contracts set aside for companies with revenues of $6.5 million or less, and one additional contract for a company with no more than $750,000 in annual revenues. Those contracts, in all, were valued at $2.1 million.

In addition, Presidential Airways, which carries both passengers and cargo, won some $107 million in contracts reserved for companies whose revenues were no more than $25.5 million or had fewer than 1,500 employees...