Anyone here work as a contractor for FEMA? If so please PM me. I’ve got a question.

A friend of mine worked about 2 months of clean-up on Michael and can't get paid.

Contractors don't actually work for FEMA. They work for the local agency, in which FEMA reimburses as long as Federal guidelines are followed.

I’ve heard that from a couple people but every one I talked too (that were in that situation) were actually subs. I’m curious how you actually get approved as a contractor (not sub contractor). My company already does business with the Department of Energy.

I worked with a lot of the clean up crews after Katrina supplying them equipment.. A lot did not get paid, or only got partially paid.

You have to be a huge contractor like Phillips and Jordan.

D&J Enterprises (Disaster Relief Division) in Auburn does it in the U.S. and abroad...But they are a BIGGGG Outfit!!

Most agencies operate off of annual contracts put in place well before a storm hits. This is handled with the individual agency (city, county, etc.). The contractor getting hired and/or paid is handled by that agency, not FEMA. FEMA does not hire or directly pay contractors.
Like others said, it takes a BIG outfit to be a prime for a jurisdiction of any size. The contractor has to be able to cash flow millions between payments. Payments would most likely be monthly at best.

Same here. I helped a guy in my hunting club that owned some bucket trucks and did clean up. He didnt get paid what he was owed.

Yes they are criminals. Yes they will screw you.

We are larger than PJ and won’t touch it unless we are working for FDOT. No way.

I do contract work for FEMA but it is for security, not clean up. I do not work directly for FEMA, like others have said. In fact, there are two agencies between FEMA and myself that the money goes through and actually, FEMA is just another step in the ladder as it ultimately ends at The Dept. of Homeland Security. I know guys that worked and still working cleanup in Panama City. None of them have complained about getting paid, but I have heard of others that have. The problem is they were working for subcontractors that were not paying them as they advertised or work for a contractor such as this. The key to doing the work is, just like Scrubbuck said, to have the resources to be one of the larger contractors that hires people to work for you and not depend on getting paid weekly in order to make your payroll. We have no problems getting paid, in fact, they called a little bit ago and said my check is ready. There is money to be made with FEMA, but you'd better make sure that who you are working for is on the up and up and keep in mind that what FEMA spends has to go through a number of pockets to get to who actually does the work. Not necessarily the most efficient way to operate, but considering that it has to be done mostly on the fly as people want clean up as soon as possible after a disaster and you don't know when and where it is needed until it is, the system is pretty effective, or about as much as possible.

If you are the little guy your not gonna get paid. The big companies get the contracts from fema and they sub out who they want. I’m still waiting on money from hurricane Michael when I went and did clean up. Never again will that happen

If you figure out how to get paid let me know they owe me biggg from Katrina

2 of my friends got beat out of a bunch of money cleaning up after Ivan .

Those dudes drive around in Lariats and King Ranches, ya they land some monster contracts.