FDA's PR Shop Scandal

The flap over the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) contract award to PR shop Qorvis Communications has got me steamed. And not for the reasons you might think.

Here is a quick rundown of the facts as reported by the Washington Post:

-The FDA hires Mildred Cooper as a temporary PR consultant to advise the agency’s commissioner and other senior officials. Cooper then recommends the agency undertake a public relations campaign to help create a more positive image with the American public and on Capitol Hill

-Prior to her FDA gig, Cooper worked for a company called Luna Innovations, a Qorvis client. She picks up the phone and calls her contacts at Qorvis to discuss the FDA’s PR challenges. Together, Cooper and Qorvis develop a scope of work and budget for a PR campaign.

-With a desire to award the contract to Qorvis, the FDA then side-steps normal procedures and awards the contract to an Alaska Native corporation that qualifies for special set-asides. It’s understood by all parties that Qorvis will do the work as a subcontractor.

-After being made aware of the circumstances surrounding this award, FDA deputy commissioner John Dyer suspends the contract and initiates an independent investigation.

While the back room dealings by the FDA and Qorvis reek of suspicion and scandal, the truth is that no one involved did anything illegal. Alaska Native-owned companies do qualify for set aside contracts and typically rely on subcontractors to handle all of the work. Everyone involved in government contracting knows this.

As for the FDA’s Mildred Cooper, she merely called on a firm she had a relationship with and believed could perform the task at a high level. Guess what? That exact same thing happens in business each and every day. People hire vendors they know and trust. It’s called relationship sales.

The Washington Post cited this situation as an example of “how contract competition requirements designed to get the best deals for taxpayers have often been subverted in recent years for the sake of convenience or to serve narrow interests…”

Yet, the best deal for taxpayers in this case may have very well been for Qorvis to represent the interests of the FDA. Mildred Cooper sure thought so and that’s why she was hired.

In the interest of full disclosure, I do know a few of the Qorvis executives fairly well. My firm competes against their technology practice and I’d like to think there is a healthy respect between our companies. Yet, I have no love for Qorvis. They’re a competitor.

In this case though I do believe they’re going to get a lot of undeserved knocks in the business and trade media. That’s because the world works on relationships…except apparently in government.