Laboratory issues contracts to Northern New Mexico businesses

Contact: Steve Sandoval, steves@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9206 (01-124)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Dec. 10, 2001 -- The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory recently awarded two contracts to Northern New Mexico businesses for work as part of the Lab’s Cerro Grande Rehabilitation Project.

T.C. Co. of Hernandez was awarded a contract valued at $1.7 million for thinning of piñon and juniper trees at Technical areas 36, 39 and 68. Terry Conley is the owner of T.C. Co.

T.C. Co. will use a hydrostatic brush cutter to grind cut trees into a mulch, which remains on site where the trees were cut, explained Stephen Mee, program manager of Los Alamos’ Cerro Grande Rehabilitation Project Office.

Hurd Brothers Logging in Chama was awarded a $1.1 million contract for logging and thinning ponderosa pine trees around Technical areas 11, 16 and 28. Andrew Hurd is the general partner of Hurd Brothers.

According to Mee, some of the trees burned in the fire are being thinned to reduce fuel loading and meet fuel mitigation goals in defensible space and fuel breaks around key Laboratory buildings and structures. He also said unburned trees are growing in dense, overcrowded conditions, therefore, it is necessary to thin these trees to mitigate fuels and reduce the potential for another catastrophic fire.

Mee said thinned trees 8 inches in diameter and greater will be sold to lumber mills in Northern New Mexico. Logs between 3 and 8 inches in diameter will be cut and given away free of charge as firewood. Individuals interested in obtaining firewood can write to firewood@lanl.gov by electronic mail and provide their name and address.

Work by both companies is expected to begin before the end of the year and be completed next summer, said Mee.

Robert Holder of Los Alamos’ Procurement Office said the Laboratory issued competitive bids for this fire rehabilitation work. “The company was very instrumental in saying ‘I can do this for so much an acre, and I feel very strongly that I can do this in a very productive fashion,’ “ Holder said of T.C. Co.

Holder said both companies are Historically Underutilized Business zone certified and both worked closely with Los Alamos’ Procurement and Small Business Program offices to achieve HUB zone certification.

Small businesses in so-called HUB zones must, among other things, have 35 percent of their workforce residing in the area where the business is located; be located in a historically underutilized business zone where unemployment is high and family median income is below federal guidelines; must be considered a small business under traditional federal Small Business Administration guidelines; and must be locally owned by at least one U.S. citizen. The businesses also must maintain their principal business offices in the designated HUB zone area, Carlos Chacon of Los Alamos’ Small Business Program Office said. Once a business has been HUB zone certified, they are eligible to participate in HUB zone procurements with the Laboratory and other federal agencies, he added.

“These contracts demonstrate the Laboratory’s continued interest in small businesses in the community,” said Chacon. “We are always looking for purchasing opportunities in Northern New Mexico and are working with Laboratory personnel who make purchases for their organization to stress the benefits of purchasing locally whenever possible.”

For additional information about Los Alamos’ small business outreach efforts, call 667-4410 or write to sbo@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.