SBA Honors Contracting Award Winners SBA named Jeffrey D. Fletcher, president of Ecotone Services Inc. of Dover, TN, its small business prime contractor of the year. Ecotone, a HUBZone firm, holds operation and management contracts for the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky. It provides ground maintenance and facility cleaning, roads and trails maintenance, facility maintenance, environmental services and chemical pumping. Ecotone received the SBA Award of Excellence in 2005. The small business subcontractor of the year is Larry Sala, CEO of Anaren Inc. of East Syracuse, NY. Anaren manufactures communications and electronics components. Although classified as a small business, it is a publicly traded company that reported net sales of $32.6 million and net income of $4.1 million in its latest quarter. Anaren was nominated by prime contractor Raytheon. SBA said the contracting awards recognize the companies for their commitment to providing contracting and subcontracting opportunities to small, women-owned and small disadvantaged businesses. SBA announced other contracting awards during the observance of Small Business Week in April: Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizing large prime contractors for their utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors: •Roger Jinks, President, AMEC Earth & Environmental Inc. of Plymouth Meeting, PA (Construction Category). •Ken Dahlberg, President of Science Applications International Corp., McLean, VA (Research & Development Category). •Ralph Peterson, CEO and of CH2M Hill of Englewood, CO (Services Category). Gold Star Award, recognizing the exemplary performance of federal agencies and their dedicated personnel who carry out the aggressive goals and strategic initiatives that help ensure a role for small business in the federal marketplace: •Boyd Kevin Rutherford, assistant secretary for administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Frances Perkins Vanguard Award, honoring government and industry for excellence in the use of women-owned small businesses as prime contractors and subcontractors: •Tracey L. Pinson, director of the Office of Small Business Programs, U.S. Army. •Greg Turner, chief financial officer for UT-Battelle LLC at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, TN. Two Native American sisters who founded a health care business were named National Small Business Persons of the Year by SBA. Bobbie Jacobs-Ghaffar and Lesa Jacobs of Lumberton, NC, are founders of Native Angels Homecare and Hospice, which employs 301 people with annual sales over $9 million.