OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Small businesses are crucial to EM's missions.
The commitment to this belief from DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and its contractor URS|CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) is on full display as the company has spent nearly $1 billion of its $2.9 billion EM contract on small businesses locally and throughout the country.
Earlier this year, UCOR celebrated a milestone when the company surpassed the $2 billion mark on its contract. And during UCOR’s annual small business awards program this month, speakers noted nearly half of those $2 billion in funds has gone to small businesses. Since the UCOR contract was awarded in 2011, the company has subcontracted more than $1 billion of its work, and $800 million of that total went to small businesses.
On hand for this year’s program were Christy Jackiewicz, deputy director for DOE’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Jay Mullis, the OREM manager, and UCOR’s senior management and employees.
“I applaud UCOR for their commitment to small businesses and consistently identifying opportunities where they can assist and advance the important cleanup mission in Oak Ridge," said Mullis. “UCOR has obviously found the right formula as we continue making progress while completing our projects below estimates and ahead of schedule."
Small businesses provide services to UCOR ranging from administrative and professional support to technical, engineering and construction management, transportation, and waste management services.
UCOR, a joint venture partnership between AECOM and Jacobs, launched the small business awards program in 2012, soon after being awarded the environmental cleanup contract for the East Tennessee Technology Park.
Winners are selected based on exceptional performance that contributes to cleanup accomplishments. Criteria include developing creative and unique solutions, exhibiting extraordinary customer service, making gains in productivity and efficiency, and coming up with innovative ideas that lead to cost, time, or resource savings.
This year’s winners are:
* PacTec, Inc. (Clinton, Louisiana) - Small Business of the Year
* ExpoQuip, Inc. (Knoxville, Tennessee) - Small Disadvantaged Business of the Year
* Street Legal Industries (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) - HUBZone Small Business of the Year
* Hubbard Trucking, Inc. (Barbourville, Kentucky) - Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year
* Banda Group International (Chandler, Arizona) - Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
* LB Services (Oliver Springs, Tennessee) - Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
OREM funds 2,000 local jobs through contracts like UCOR, and its operations create more than 6,000 additional jobs in Tennessee. A new report shows the full economic impact of DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation on the state of Tennessee. The report examines job creation, state gross domestic product growth, private-sector procurements, payroll disbursement, state and local tax contributions, community development, and the ripple effects of this spending.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
