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EPA Region 7 Receives Award for Small Business Contracting Accomplishments

Release Date: 07/01/2011
Contact Information: Chelsey Derks, 913-551-7240, [email protected]

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., July 1, 2011) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 has been awarded the Office of Small Business Program Director’s Award in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes outstanding contracting efforts with small businesses, attaining and or exceeding Agency small business goals. All federal organizations are required to strive to achieve such goals.

The established goals are designed to support small business in six socio-economic categories:

• Small Business
• Small disadvantaged business
• 8(a) - minority-owned small disadvantaged business in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program
• Woman-owned small business
• Historically Underutilized Business Zone - small business primarily located in depressed urban or rural areas
• Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

For the past four years, Region 7 has met or exceeded five of the six goals.

“We are very committed to providing opportunities for small businesses,” said Lee Thomas, chief of the acquisition and contract management section. “We ensure our statements of work are conducive to small firms having a level playing field.”

Chester Stovall, regional small business specialist, said the Agency understands the important role small businesses play in the marketplace.

Among the Region’s successful contracting efforts with small businesses:

• Almost $17.3 million was awarded to a small business for a project in Omaha, Neb., where residential yards contaminated with lead from smelter operations were excavated and replaced with clean soil and sod.
• A lead mine site in Jasper County, Mo., received more than $50.9 million, the largest amount obligated in Region 7 to a specific site during the current reporting period. The contract was to remediate mine waste that contained high levels of heavy metals contamination.

Contracting Officer Marie Noel said part of the success Region 7 has experienced in recent years originates from the Region taking steps that allowed small businesses to participate fully. Some of these include mass emails that were sent out by the small business specialists as well as aggressive interactive site visits.

Thomas said that Region 7 will continue to strive to meet the goals set by the Office of Small Business Programs and will continue to work in a collaborative effort to support small business in the future.