SBA, NASA Honor Minority Contractors SBA honored three women-owned, minority-owned businesses and a Navy official during the 23rd National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week celebration in Washington. The winner of the National 8(a) Minority Small Business of the Year Award is Lori Nevarez, president of Innovar Environmental of Littleton, CO. Maria J. Hankerson, president of Systems Assessment & Research Inc. of Lanham, MD, and Claudia F. Fabela, president of TDF Corp. of Rock Island, IL, are the recipients of the 8(a) Graduate of the Year Award. Ann Howell, deputy small and disadvantaged business specialist for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, SC, is the winner of the Administrator’s Leadership Award in recognition of “her tireless efforts and unwavering commitment on behalf of the nation’s minority small business community.” National Minority Small Business Person of the Year: Lori Lynn Nevarez, President, Innovar Environmental Inc. Innovar is a woman-owned, 8(a) and HUBZone-certified minority business specializing in environmental consulting and construction. Innovar provides services to federal and state government agencies, commercial and industrial firms and larger engineering and environmental firms. National 8(a) Graduate of the Year: Maria J. Hankerson, Ph.D., Systems Assessment & Research Inc. SAR Corp is a woman-owned business that graduated from the SBA’s 8(a) program in 2003. The company has two operational divisions, research and evaluation and human resources staffing and management services. The staffing division provides high-level medical staffing services for military and commercial institutions and provides executive and professional staffing services for business environments. National 8(a) Graduate of the Year: Claudia F. Fabela, President, TDF Corp. Fabela founded TDF in 1989 with 30 employees, but now employs more than 130 people. The company does business primarily with Fortune 100 clients and the military. Administrator’s Leadership Award: Ann Howell, Deputy Small and Disadvantaged Business Specialist for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, SC. “Howell has a passion to help small businesses grow to be successful and is a champion for small business participation in government contracting,” SBA said. Her work helped her organization receive the first “Outstanding Compliance Review” award ever given by the SBA. “These four phenomenal women are prime examples of why the number of women and minority-owned businesses is growing faster than any other sector in the nation,” SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto said. “They are employers, they create job growth and they are professionals and visionaries who contribute significantly to our nation’s economy. Today it is my pleasure to recognize these outstanding women for their entrepreneurial achievements and tremendous contributions to the nation’s economy.” NASA Presents Awards NASA announced its minority contractor, subcontractor and women-owned business of the year in a ceremony Sept. 14 in Washington. Tessada & Associates Inc. of Springfield, VA, is NASA’s Minority Contractor of the Year. Bastion Technologies Inc. of Houston was named Minority Subcontractor of the Year, and Barrios Technology Ltd. of Houston, was named NASA’s Woman-Owned Business of the Year. NASA also recognized outstanding advocates within the agency for their contributions and innovative approaches with minority and women-owned business. Winners of the exceptional achievement medals are: In the Technical category, Eric B. Clark of the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; In Procurement, Jeffrey Jackson of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL; In the Small Business category, Robert Medina of the Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, CA. Winners of NASA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s Special Recognition Awards for lifetime achievement or a single outstanding act were: Bay Systems of Oakland, CA; Futron Corp. of Bethesda, MD; and T/J Technologies Inc. of Ann Arbor, MI. NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.; Stennis Space Center, Miss.; Marshall and Dryden were recognized for meeting or exceeding all negotiated socioeconomic small business goals.