Veteran-Owned IT Firm and Woman-Owned Mapping Technology Company Win Top Honors for Excellence in Federal Contracting

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Jun 21, 2013, 10:05 ET

8(a) Graduate Firm of the Year, Industry Leaders Also Honored

WASHINGTON, June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A service-disabled veteran-owned small business contractor from Colorado and a woman-owned mapping technology company from Minnesota have been named the National Prime Contractor of the Year and National Subcontractor of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The awards were announced at a breakfast event as part of the SBA's National Small Business Week celebration.

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"When federal contracts get into the hands of small businesses, it is a win-win for the federal government, small businesses, the economy and the job market," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "The federal government awarded nearly $100 billion in federal contracts to small businesses like the ones being honored today. These businesses and the industry leaders who contract with small businesses help boost the nation's economy and they are stellar models of how to successfully navigate the federal contracting arena."

This year's winners are:

Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year: Michael Lee Anderson, President of INTECON, LLC, established the service-disabled veteran-owned small business in 1999, to provide telecommunication, IT, maintenance and operation, engineering hardware and software services, and advisory & assistance services to government and commercial customers. The company has 81 employees and achieved $17.6 million in revenues last year.
INTECON supports operationally classified programs in the US, Korea, Afghanistan and the Middle East. Special achievements for INTECON include: monitoring and providing analysis of radiation contamination from the damaged Japanese nuclear reactor during the Japanese earthquake/tsunami recovery, providing translation and analysis on a Mexican government sponsored Web site dedicated to anti-drug efforts and introducing the Health Service Support Estimate Process now known as the National Integrated Catastrophic Health Events-Preparedness and Response System (NICHE-PRS) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which resulted in an invitation to test the system in a national level exercise.
Small Business Subcontractor of the Year: Founded in 1987, Pro-West & Associates (PWA) is a woman-owned small business that is also certified in the U.S. Small Business Administration's Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program. The firm specializes in Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. This technology is used exclusively to create, manage and visualize geographic information that typically can only be seen on maps. The firm provides custom and semi-custom GIS applications, geo-database design, and Structured Query Language (SQL) designed for database management and cartographic products. PWA has conducted multi-million dollar internal feasibility studies and provides GIS assistance to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The company has been awarded government contracts ranging from several thousand dollars to more than $5 million to provide solutions and services that include desktop, web mobile mapping applications, system design and integration.

The two small businesses were selected from among ten regional prime contractors and 10 regional subcontractors of the year. The awards honor small businesses that provide outstanding goods and services to the federal government as prime contractors or as subcontractors.

SBA's 8(a) Business Development program is a nine-year program which provides socially and economically disadvantaged firms access to government contracting opportunities and specialized business training and counseling to help them become viable competitors in the federal marketplace.

8(a) Graduate Firm of the Year: Ronald Bene Woods initially founded Woods Group Architects, Inc., in the fall of 1992, as Architecture Innovations Group after winning a contract for a 30,000 square foot multi-purpose complex for Philander Smith College, Arkansas's oldest Historically Black College and University. Today, Woods Group Architects, Inc. is one of the largest minority-owned architectural firm in Arkansas and a graduate of the U.S. Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development Program. The firm has six employees, and revenues in excess of $800,000. Its projects include high-profile public facilities; educational facilities, from K-12 to colleges and universities; commercial retail developments; religious facilities; and custom residential designs.
Woods Group Architects, Inc. entered the SBA's 8(a) Business Development Program in 1996 and received several contracts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during its tenure. The company recently collaborated on the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library and the new terminal expansion for the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.

Other procurement awards announced today include:

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizing large prime contractors that have excelled in utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors. The recipients are:

Clark Construction Group, of Bethesda, Md; Wesley Stith, vice president, small business liaison (Construction Category).
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, of Lexington, Mass; Dr. Eric Evans, director, (Research and Development Category).
Tetra Tech Technical Services, Inc. of Pasadena, Calif; president & chief operating officer, (Services Category).
Lockheed Martin Corporation of Bethesda, Md; vice president, Global Supply Chain, (Manufacturing Category).

To view a list of the regional prime contractors and subcontractors of the year, visit: http://www.sba.gov/nsbw/2013-award-winners.

Every year since 1963, the U.S. Small Business Administration takes the opportunity to highlight through National Small Business Week the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from all 50 states and U.S. territories. This year's event will be held June 17-21, in Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. offering tips, tools and training for small businesses to start, succeed and grow. In addition to in-person events, small business owners can participate in online-only panel discussions on hot topics like social media and business financing starting daily at 4 p.m. ET. All events, in-person and online, will be streamed live on www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek. The event hashtag is #SBW2013.

Small Business Week 2013 sponsors include: Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, National Association of the Self Employed (NASE), Arlington Texas Chamber of Commerce, AT&T, ADP, AARP, LegalShield, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL),SCORE, Western Pennsylvania Small Business Network, Staples, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., Visa, Women Impacting Public Policy(WIPP),Staples, SuperMedia, TXU Energy, Verizon, Vox Global, Business Forward and Office Depot.

The U.S. Small Business Administration's participation in this cosponsored activity does not constitute an express or implied endorsement of any cosponsor's, donor's, grantee's, contractor's or participant's opinions, products or services. All SBA programs and cosponsored programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least two weeks in advance, by contacting [email protected]. Cosponsorship Authorization #SBW2013.

Contact: Tiffani Clements (202) 401-0035
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news
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Release Number: 13-41

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration