With help from an American firm, Iraqis work through risks and challenges to rebuild their nation.


Signs of progress in rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure are evident after three years, but much work remains.

April 2007 marked three years since Northeast Engineers & Consultants, Inc., through its subsidiary Secure Global Engineering, LLC (SGE), began participating in reconstruction of Iraq (see CE News, October 2005). It has been an amazing experience so far, and the scale of the work remaining to modernize Iraq’s crumbling infrastructure defies description.

From the beginning, SGE recruited and trained exceptional Iraqi professional and technical men and women. The firm’s 50-person office in Iraq is staffed by six Americans and 44 Iraqi Nationals. Some of them have been with us from the beginning.

In these three years, we have developed lasting business relationships with a score of Iraqi businesses that have grown from virtually nothing to well-established, reliable companies. We have a mentor-protégé relationship with many subcontractors. We taught them Western business practices, and they now submit detailed bids, have international banking, proven logistics capabilities, understand the value and power of well-written and enforced contracts, and pride themselves on performance.

SGE has a mentor-protégé relationship with many subcontractors and has taught them Western business practices.

This experience hasn’t been without risks and lessons. We have met our share of vultures and thieves along the way—American and Iraqi—but we have done more right than not and have survived our mistakes along with our subcontractors.

Our employees and subcontractors reflect the ethnic and religious realities of Iraq. They are Shiite, Sunni, Christian, and others. Many of them are good friends, regardless of their religion. They can’t, or won’t, leave Iraq, so their goal is to establish companies or maintain long-term employment with SGE to keep their immediate and extended families fed and safe. Many of them have hope for Iraq, but in many different forms.

Whenever bidding on a project, we choose a subcontractor that has a relationship in the area of the project—a family member, classmate, friend of a friend, religious connection, or some other contact with local religious and community leaders. Our representative visits the community the work is proposed for and gets a signed agreement of Mutual Cooperation, giving us permission to do the project with the knowledge and consent of any form of authority that exists in that location, including the consent of any militia participating in the community’s security. We also hire as much local labor as the project will bear.

SGE has completed projects in Baghdad and in Northern and Southern Iraq.

Because SGE’s projects are built for specific communities, none of them have been destroyed. Regardless of their politics, Iraqis want clean water, refrigeration, air conditioning, and television. That’s not to say we have not had challenges. Things have happened that I could not have dreamed of, but we have gotten through them.

SGE donated funding and managed construction for an orphanage in Baghdad. Some of the children are enrolled in day care; most of the young girls live at the orphanage.

Demand in Iraq for electrical power is growing faster than anyone can increase generating capacity—a 70-percent increase in demand since 2003. Power is now being shared around the country instead of being focused on Baghdad. This has led to a sharp increase in appliance purchases, which further increases power demand. Efforts to meet growing demand are in addition to maintaining the existing power generation, transmission, and distribution system that is already in very poor condition.

Increasing power generation and expanding transmission and distribution is probably the most important goal to stabilize the economy and the Iraqi government. Factories can’t open without power. New housing communities can’t be built without power, and there is a critical housing shortage. And the list goes on and on; dependable electrical power is the backbone of any prosperous economy.

Whenever bidding on a project, SGE chooses a subcontractor that has a relationship with people or authorities in the area of the project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) took over management of the reconstruction last year, strictly adhering to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and enforcing construction standards and safety. That has not been without its challenges for all concerned, but it was necessary and has brought better organization and execution to the U.S.-funded construction program.

Nevertheless, I hope that sometime in the future the FAR can be amended for the Iraq projects to take into account the challenges associated with nation building. When growing companies from scratch to meet the engineering and construction needs of a new, free economy, FAR adherence slows progress dramatically. Corps officers, soldiers, and civilians are doing everything within their power to work through these issues and should be commended. It is not an easy task to oversee thousands of construction projects in a foreign country, while facing the risks inherent in Iraq. They have earned the gratitude and respect of SGE’s Iraqi and American employees.

Security for our team is always paramount in planning and executing projects. But, because security is still a challenge for any company or organization doing business in Iraq, many are still taking a wait-and-see approach. Some donor nations and humanitarian organizations have not arrived yet to help create jobs and repair the infrastructure. Although it is understandable that these organizations would put the safety of their people first and wait to see if their work can be done during a safer time, the jobless rate and poor living conditions are compounding the security situation. A recently published article stated that the U.N. believes most parts of Iraq are safe enough now for donor nations to help the reconstruction and economic development, which would be welcomed by the Iraqi people.

Some recent news reports also claim that Iraq’s reconstruction is a failure: By some metrics that may be so, but not by others. The most obvious change since my first time in Baghdad in 2004 is the business environment. It was almost impossible to find anything a Westerner would think of as a "company" in 2004. Now, there is a burgeoning business community looking for opportunity at every turn. SGE now has more subcontractors and trading companies that we trust and can rely upon than we have work.

Signs of progress are everywhere in Iraq. We designed a large land development housing project in Erbil, which is in the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq, arguably the safest and most economically robust part of the country. We have projects in Southern Iraq, and we have had no problems moving around the areas near Basra. In Baghdad, although the violence can be seen on the news every day; the Iraqi police and Army are much more visible than ever before.

The first time I arrived at Baghdad International Airport, I walked though a vacant, deserted airport terminal with a semi-automatic rifle in my hand. Now I arrive and go through customs and passport control. My luggage comes out at the baggage claim, and you can catch a cab at the arrival curb side. I still take an armored land cruiser with security, but the cabs are there, tangible signs of progress.

News about our government officials calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops frightens our Iraqi employees. They acknowledge that a day will come when American troops should leave and Iraq will stand on its own, but they want more time. There are many forces at work in Iraq.

As a company, SGE tries to play a positive role in its community in Baghdad. We cleaned and graded a soccer field in the neighborhood and distributed soccer balls and uniforms to the local children. We have donated funds to a local food bank. Last year we renovated a girls’ orphanage. With the help of a local architect and contractors, SGE donated the funding and managed construction on the project. Today, that orphanage houses 20 girls and ensures that they receive an education.

I have always thought that SGE could have a long future in Iraq. That is now being realized by the long-term commitment that Iraqi employees have made to establish SGE as a participant in the future of the country. Three Iraqi SGE employees flew to Rhode Island last summer for management training and to strengthen their relationship with the staff they see by video conference nearly every day. Some of the young, talented Iraqi managers and engineers in Baghdad have the skills that would make them successful anywhere, and they are taking control of rebuilding their nation, and SGE.

Another sign of progress has been the maturing of the Iraqi Ministries. Initially, it was difficult to find the right people in any government organization to get information or permits. Today, the Ministries have staffed up and there is a semblance of a bureaucracy that gets things done. They still have a long way to go, but we get feedback on design issues, bonding, inspections, and permitting in a fairly consistent manner today.

Signs of progress are all around us in Iraq. However, nation building takes time; it is not done everyday, and people have to be willing to act and participate for the good of their nation, community, and family. We have met a few of those people. I don’t know what the future holds for Iraq, but I believe there is hope, and SGE and its employees—Iraqi and American—are doing their part to help.

Blake Henderson, P.E., is the founder and CEO of Northeast Engineers & Consultants, Inc., Middletown, R.I.; and its subsidiary, Secure Global Engineering, LLC, Baghdad, Iraq. He can be contacted at blakeh@northeastengineers.com.