Federal awards of stimulus funds favor big firms – “It’s a farce. It stinks of politics and big special interests.” Workshop aims to bring local contractors on board

Across the nation, local firms can expect to lose billions of economic stimulus dollars to large multinational corporations, thanks to a government contracting scheme that puts paperwork speed ahead of community recovery.

In Montana, that means qualified building firms such as Kalispell’s Swank Enterprises are out of the loop, while many millions in federal construction funding will go to a California company that recently earned a stern rebuke for its failures in Iraq – a war-profits scandal that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

“It’s a farce,” said Dewey Swank. “It stinks of politics and big special interests.”

By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/06/07/news/local/news02.txt

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Workshop aims to bring local contractors on board

By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

KALISPELL – A workshop for contractors and subcontractors interested in government jobs has been scheduled for Great Falls, in hopes of bringing local firms on board for federal economic stimulus projects.

And at least one agency is paving the way, with contract language that requires builders give priority to local subcontractors.

The June 13 meeting – at 10 a.m. in the Great Falls Civic Center – is hosted by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. http://tester.senate.gov/ , with representatives from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, General Services Administration and Army Corps of Engineers, among others.

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/06/07/news/mtregional/news11.txt

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Invest in Montana: Local companies should get crack at stimulus contracts in the state – Missoulian Editorial http://matr.net/article-34611.html

Montana Senator Jon Tester raises complaints that out-of-state companies stand to get too much contract work for Montana stimulus projects at hearing http://matr.net/article-34599.html

State stimulus money for Montana goes to out-of-state firms http://matr.net/article-34526.html

Concerns of stimulus funding intended for Montana being directed to out-of-state companies http://matr.net/article-34315.html