Feinman: BEAD staffers ‘constantly concerned’ in current climate

Seemingly arbitrary decisions and reviews with seemingly pre-determined outcomes left Evan Feinman’s staff ‘constantly concerned,’ said Evan Feinman, the former director of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD). The arbitrary nature of decision-making left former staffers constantly concerned about their jobs. “My really high-talent staff was constantly concerned that they were going to be let go [for] any reason,” Feinman said. “Not because they were underperforming, not because they weren’t getting the job done, but irrespective or whether or not they were performing and getting the job done.” According to Feinman, that fear hurt the culture within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Feinman said BEAD is state-led effort. “At least it was conceived to be,” he said. “The new administration seems to be interested in making it a much more top-down, directed out of DC, approach.”