President Trump froze funds used to pay for federal contracts with businesses. “We hope we can find a way to compensate” businesses, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management in Utah said.
By Shannon Sollitt, The Salt Lake Tribune
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state
Sam Conder, his brother and his dad spent two months this fall welding about 30 steel kiosks for the federal Bureau of Land Management. Conder expected the huge, standalone steel structures to hold trail signs and land markers on BLM land across Utah.
He also expected to be paid for the work.
Instead, he got an email explaining why he won’t be — even though his tiny family business delivered the kiosks to the BLM in November. President Donald Trump’s Day 1 executive order freezing Inflation Reduction Act funds also cut off the BLM’s funding to pay its $30,457 purchase order with ARC Construction Solutions, a three-employee construction shop in Cedar City.
“It’s not huge, but it’s not insignificant,” Conder said. “We’re a really small business. $30,000 … keeps us going.”
Conder said his contacts in his local BLM office, including his contracting officer, have “tried very hard” to fix things, but until the freeze is lifted or repealed, or unless Congress authorizes new funds, there is nothing they can do.
The executive order has been challenged in court but remains in effect. Citing policy that prohibits commenting on active litigation, a spokesperson for BLM said she could not discuss how many similar letters have been sent to Utah businesses.
But Christina Judd, Utah communications director for the BLM, said the agency “values the partnerships we have with Utah contractors. We hope we can find a way to compensate them for the work they’ve done.”
To read more about the Conder Family, visit The Salt Lake Tribune .