FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2006
FY06-41
Small Business Association (SBA) Comes to Town to Recognize ORAU and Integrated Solutions & Services, Inc.
Oak Ridge, Tenn.—In less than three months, Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) has won two national awards for their work in small business contracting.
This spring, the SBA selected ORAU to receive the prestigious “2006 Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence in Small Business Subcontracting.” The award recognizes prime contractors that have excelled in their utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors.
The criteria for this award includes:
- Demonstrated Management Support of the Small Business Program
- Effectiveness of the Small Business Liaison Officer,
- Small Business Outreach Efforts
- Assistance to Small Business and Related Success Stories
- Participation in a Mentor-Protégé Program
- Receipt of Other Awards for Small Business Activities
- Positive Five-year Trend of Small Business Awards.
ORAU was selected for this award based on outstanding results under each of these criteria. ORAU’s Five-Year Trend Analysis table was essential in the selection process as ORAU has surpassed every socioeconomic category goal each of the past five years.
ORAU also received it’s first-ever “Small Business Diversity Achievement Award.” This Department of Energy (DOE) award is presented for outstanding performance in achieving the overall highest percentage of diversity in subcontract awards to all socio-economic categories of small business concerns.
Ernest Whitaker, Small Business Manager and John Bennett, Procurement Manager accepted this award at DOE’s 7th Annual Small Business Conference in Seattle, Washington in late June.
“The ORAU Procurement organization has achieved a level of excellence that is hard to beat,” said ORAU President Ron Townsend. “This outstanding team of professionals continues to excel with all of its efforts of outreach and assistance to small business concerns.”
Mitch Morand, area SBA Director, will be at ORAU on Wednesday, July 26 to formally recognize both ORAU and its official SBA protégé, Integrated Solutions & Services, Inc. (ISS) for their achievements.
ISS is a small woman-owned and SBA certified HUBZone business that began operations in 2001 with a focus on supporting government agencies and prime contractors with environmental and scientific services.
The SBA presented the “Small Business Award of Excellence” to ISS for their management organization, financial stamina and controls, labor relations, customer interface, technical capabilities, resource utilization, cost performance, delivery performance, quality performance, and overall evaluation. This award highlights ORAU’s role as Mentor and strongly demonstrates ORAU’s commitment to its Protégé and support for DOE’s Mentor Protégé Program.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 96 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.