Wade on May 2008
Monday, June 30th, 2008Then and now
Meet the new owners: Birmingham-based construction/engineering firm BE&K will have a new owner. KBR, a Houston-based construction/engineering contractor, will buy the homegrown company for $550 million. In fact, KBR has now completed the deal.
BE&K has a reputation as a family-friendly workplace, but what do we know about KBR? So glad you asked …
- It’s a former Halliburton subsidiary.
- Thirteen Americans (11 soldiers and two contractors) have been electrocuted in Iraq. All deaths took place in buildings maintained by military contractor KBR. The Pentagon has ordered an investigation.
- The Pentagon also says that the firm overcharged the Navy millions of dollars on post-Katrina work in south Mississippi, but made up for it with shoddy work.
- Several women working in Iraq have accused KBR employees of rape (including gang rape), not to mention a cover-up.
And we all paid for it.