What’s more, MNBE, which is based in Okmulgee, Okla., explicitly describes itself as a small, tribal-owned business that specializes in helping larger companies win federal contracts by partnering with them to take advantage of federal laws designed to funnel government contracts to Native American-owned companies. government facilities - from national park sites to sensitive nuclear research facilities, such as the Nevada Test Site.
G4S, which claims to be largest private security firm in the world, ran security at the London Olympics and guards a range of U.S. A small tribal-owned company gets some government business, and the big contractors get a slice of the action.Īnd, indeed, MNBE used to subcontract at least some of its government-security business in Afghanistan to the Maryland-based Ronco, a private security firm "wholly owned" by G4S, previously known as Wackenhut. These firms, usually consisting of a handful of people, then subcontract much or most of the actual work out to a large organization. Pass-through companies are often tiny but politically well-connected Native American-owned businesses that bid for government deals reserved for small, tribal-owned businesses. Experts contacted about the contract initially speculated that MBNE might be a so-called pass-through firm. efforts in Afghanistan - a business dominated by large private security firms - seems implausible. Given its small size, at first glance the notion that MBNE is protecting U.S. military organization charged with building up Afghan industries, particularly mining, agribusiness, and IT in order to "help Afghanistan achieve economic sovereignty," according to a Pentagon website. These services will include basic necessities, complex security, and personnel security details for safe travel in the immediate region around the Herat and Helmand facilities." But, according to the contract announcement, made August 9, MBNE is "to provide life support services to the Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations in Afghanistan. Neither MBNE nor the Pentagon would provide specifics about the deal, citing security concerns. The Muscogee Nation Business Enterprise (MBNE) is a 100-person firm that has in the past used its status as a tribal-owned company to win government business, some of which it then subcontracted to a larger security company, but it says that its employees are fulfilling this contract, providing security in a war zone. bases in Herat and Helmand, Afghanistan, under a $7 million Pentagon contract. military during the Civil War, is now guarding Americans stationed at U.S. The Muscogee Nation, part of the Creek Indian tribe, which fought with Confederate troops against the U.S.