Mother Jones Receives Award For Excellence in Journalism

The article revealed that Verizon Communications received more than $107 million in small business contracts in 2015, and that the Small Business Administration (SBA) counted contracts with 150 Fortune 500 firms towards its small business contracting requirements in the same year.

Josh Harkinson cites the fact that small businesses are excluded from the majority of Federal discretionary spending as further evidence that the U.S government favors corporations over small businesses.

Additionally, the article exposed the methods by which corporations are receiving small business contracts, bringing to light the revelation that large Corporations are receiving billions in small business contracts through small businesses they acquire and don't recertify as large businesses. "Corporate behemoths that acquire smaller firms may simply ignore a requirement to recertify the size of the firms they acquire (the Verizon contracts were awarded to a subsidiary, Terremark Federal Group, that Verizon purchased in 2011)."

Josh Harkinson started writing for Mother Jones in 2006, specializing in tech, labor, drug policy and the environment. His article made a huge splash in congress, indicated after its release by the congressional extension of the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP), a 28 year old Pentagon test program that removes all transparency regarding federal contracting within the program, as well as all penalties for non-compliance with Federal contracting law.

On receiving his award from the ASBL Josh Harkinson stated: "I am honored to accept this award from the American Small Business League. Through FOIA requests and lawsuits, the ASBL shines a spotlight on federal small business contracting. This information is of vital importance to journalists and anyone who wants to understand the often opaque world of federal procurement."

SOURCE American Small Business League