Los Alamos receives special emphasis award for Small Business Operations from Department of Energy

Contact: Steve Sandoval, steves@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9206 (02-053)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., May 20, 2002 -- Los Alamos National Laboratory has received a Special Emphasis Award in the area of small business achievement for 2001 from the Department of Energy.

The award will be presented to the Laboratory at DOE's third annual Small Business Conference this week in Orlando, Fla. Dennis Roybal, Los Alamos' Business Operations Division deputy leader, is accepting the award on behalf of the Laboratory at a luncheon ceremony today.

"The awards are presented annually based on the previous fiscal year's performance and recognize exceptional small-business-related achievements by DOE's secretarial offices, heads of contracting activities, and management and operating contractors," said Bennie Gonzales, Los Alamos' Small Business Program Office manager.

"The award recognizes the outstanding job done by our purchasing, small business office and Ombuds Office staffs in serving the small business community," Gonzales added.

A panel consisting of three high-level federal officials selected Los Alamos for the award, citing the outreach efforts of the Laboratory, including establishing a database to track the trends of large business' lower-tier subcontracting with small businesses; contracting with a purchase-card provider that had the capability to track and report socio-economic purchasing activity; and for the formation of a small business Ombuds program.

Los Alamos created its "Ombuds Program for Business Concerns" in 2000 and recently switched to a new financial institution to better track purchase-card-program purchases.

The DOE Office of Economic Impact and Diversity has created a Web page that provides information about the awards. The Web page can be found at http://www.hr.doe.gov/ed/osdbu/buawards.html online.

The award is the second this month the Laboratory has received for excellence in small business operations.

The federal Small Business Administration gave Los Alamos a Dwight D. Eisenhower Award in the research and development category, one of four categories SBA recognizes. Los Alamos was recognized at SBA's 35th annual Industry and Small Business Administration business and procurement expo May 9 in Washington, D.C.

Los Alamos' Small Business Program Office has in place a number of programs that support small business and economic development in the region. One such program is the Northern New Mexico Preference Program, part of Los Alamos' Regional Purchasing Program designed to strengthen regional business enterprises, stimulate greater regional employment and infrastructure, increase the business tax base in Northern New Mexico and reduce regional dependence on the federal government.

For more information about the Small Business Program Office, go to http://buynorthern.lanl.gov, call 7-4410 or write to sbo@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, developing technical solutions to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.

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