Latest news with #McGarrah
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC firm says its bid to manage Helene homebuilding was improperly disqualified
Flood debris piles left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Photo by) A North Carolina-based firm that submitted a bid to manage the state's Hurricane Helene homebuilding program is alleging that its proposal was improperly disqualified. IEM International, which is based in Morrisville, said in a statement to NC Newsline that it had filed a complaint with the NC Department of Commerce, which oversaw the contract process. And the firm is seeking to have the critical contract re-bid. 'The decision to disqualify IEM's compliant proposal without review or scoring is highly irregular and concerning,' the firm said in its statement. The NC Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment sent Friday. State officials awarded the contract earlier this month to Horne LLP, a Mississippi-based company, for $81.5 million. The firm is charged with implementing a $1.4 billion federal housing grant and overseeing multiple construction contractors to rebuild from the deadliest storm in state history. Horne's selection has already drawn scrutiny from state lawmakers after the firm's previous contract, part of a troubled rebuild process in eastern North Carolina, was not renewed. IEM was one of four other bidders on the state's solicitation for Helene. But its bid was deemed 'non-responsive' due to inadequate financial information, according to state officials and documents. 'The vendor did not submit required financial documentation, and per DCR's legal analysis, it was deemed non-responsive,' according to a memo from the department. That same memo shows that IEM's bid was not formally graded. IEM said in their statement that the firm 'approached this (solicitation) with the seriousness it deserves,' and had provided 'three years of audited financial data.' A copy of IEM's full offer, obtained by NC Newsline through public records request, includes a page that details the firm's balance sheet, income statement and cash flow data from three fiscal years. The firm checked 'yes' when asked if the financial figures were based on audited statements. Under a section of the bid asking for a link to annual reports, the firm wrote: 'As a privately owned company, IEM's financial statements are not public. IEM can provide to DCR upon request.' Financial details for Horne, whose bid was awarded and also obtained through public records, were redacted. The firm appears to have included pages of consolidated financial statements from 2022 and 2021 in an appendix to its bid. Stephanie McGarrah, who leads the Department of Commerce division tasked with Helene recovery, told lawmakers on Thursday that she was 'personally very disappointed' about the result of IEM's bid. 'There are very few vendors in this space, and they had partners we were familiar with,' McGarrah said. And asked if she would re-bid the contract with the knowledge of a recent settlement agreement by Horne, McGarrah said she would not. 'I do think we made the right decision,' she said. IEM's proposed partners included Deloitte, Fahe, and Tetra Tech, according to the bid. And the firm had proposed tapping multiple partners based locally in western North Carolina: B-K Construction and Brucemont Communications. According to North Carolina's administrative rules, a bidder can submit a protest within 30 days of an award being granted, detailing their reasoning and supporting documents. That protest is received by the 'executive officer' for the department that made the purchase — in this case, Commerce. That official can determine the protest is 'meritless' and refuse a protest meeting within 10 days. If the protest meeting is granted, it will be scheduled within 30 days of the bidder's request. Details of the decision, regardless of outcome, are sent to the state purchasing officer, David O'Neal. IEM, which has contracts globally, has worked with the state before. The firm won a bid in 2018, after Hurricane Matthew. Three years later, it sued ReBuild NC, the troubled office that oversaw hurricane recovery in eastern North Carolina, for failing to pay related to contract work. That case was settled outside of court. IEM Helene bid
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
For NC's Helene team, challenges begin: Slow-moving money, housing data and demanding lawmakers
North Carolina Rep. Brendan Jones (R-Columbus), left, and Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Bladen) listen to testimony at a hearing on Hurricane Helene recovery on March 6, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) State officials charged with leading western North Carolina's recovery from Hurricane Helene have warned that there are years of rebuilding ahead. But top state lawmakers made their expectations clear Thursday: they want shovels in the ground, and houses under construction, as soon as possible. During a two-hour hearing, Republicans demanded details on how Gov. Josh Stein's lieutenants for Helene recovery would approach homebuilding — a process that bedeviled former Gov. Roy Cooper's administration and infuriated lawmakers across the aisle. 'It's starting to feel like Groundhog Day again,' said Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus), the House majority leader. 'We don't have six years to do this,' he added. 'I want to see some houses. This body wants to see some houses. We want some people made whole.' But rebuilding can't begin in earnest without funding, administration officials said — and it remains an uphill battle to get aid money flowing into the mountains. The legislature is on the brink of approving $140 million to kickstart the program. But federal dollars — which make up the lion's share of relief — will be slow to arrive, between a strict regulatory process and staffing shakeups in Washington. 'We have to work through (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the federal requirements,' said Stephanie McGarrah, a Stein appointee heading up a new Department of Commerce team focused on Helene. 'We just have to be realistic about what we can, and cannot do, with these funds.' Officials have submitted their plan to spend $1.4 billion in federal dollars — a key chunk of money for housing efforts. But reported cuts to the office handling that money could complicate things. McGarrah said when the state met with HUD officials last week, 'they couldn't confirm' whether or not those cuts were coming. When that money does arrive (likely in late summer), the administration will face other obstacles in spending it. Information on housing damage in the region is fuzzy, McGarrah said, between FEMA, the Small Business Administration, HUD and local governments. 'We're struggling to define the problem because of the data we have and don't have,' she said. Republicans are frustrated by those complications. Sen. Timothy Moffitt (R-Henderson) said he didn't have a lot of trust in either the state or federal efforts. 'I would trust my colleagues to take a checkbook to their districts,' he said. 'Because we could administer that more immediately than these complicated processes.' Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) cautioned her colleagues against directing frustrations attributable to federal government delays and inaction toward state officials. 'I don't want us to be back here in two years yelling at you all because of chaos at the federal level that has prevented that money from flowing,' Mayfield said. The state will soon start taking steps towards a formal housing aid program. Jonathan Krebs, Stein's advisor for western North Carolina, said they'd begin shopping for a vendor to lead the application process 'within the next 30 days.' But they would not begin accepting applicants for rebuilding until the money was totally guaranteed, he said. 'Our ability to not wait depends on your action,' Krebs told lawmakers. Stein's Helene staff shared a raft of data and numbers with legislators Thursday as they outlined recovery efforts. Here are a few of the most notable. 30-40: How many staff McGarrah is estimating her Commerce team will hire to handle Helene. Cooper's homebuilding agency, ReBuild NC, attracted Republicans' ire by hiring more than 200. The administration plans to rely more heavily on outside contractors than prior relief teams. Currently, McGarrah's team has just a handful of employees. $57 million: An estimate of how much outstanding Helene repairs to public school facilities will cost the state. 'Additional need is required,' officials note in a presentation to lawmakers. $191 million: The amount of federal money that state officials have proposed spending on rebuilding rental housing. It caught the attention of Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood), who grilled officials on how it would be used. $50 million: The amount expended by the Department of Commerce (through the Golden LEAF Foundation) for small business loans. That's all of the money allocated to the program. Business owners have continued to call for further aid from the state.
