Firm Owned by Governor Bryan's Close Friend Who Led 2018 Campaign Awarded $2.1 Million VIHFA Contract

On Tuesday, the board of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority awarded a $2.1 million contract to The Strategy Group, a firm owned by John Engerman, a close friend of Governor Albert Bryan who led Mr. Bryan's 2018 campaign. The contract is the latest deal awarded to The Strategy Group, which has contracts with a vast number of government departments and agencies. In a recent Senate hearing, lawmakers complained about a $271,000 contract awarded to The Strategy Group which was not listed under Property and Procurement. Instead, according to Senator Kurt Vialet, who chairs the Committee on Finance and has to carefully parse the government's finances during budget hearings, the contract listed the V.I. Public Finance Authority as the vendor. The job description of the $271,000 contract was to cut 200 checks to fishermen who were awarded a $10 million grant from the federal government, according to Mr. Vialet.   As for the $2.1 million VIHFA contract, which was obtained by the Co...