A construction company, Weil Construction Inc. from Albuquerque, N.M., and Evans Capacitor Company, a firm responsible for the development of capacitor technology for the defense and aerospace industry, from East Providence, R.I., have been named the National Prime Contractor of the Year and National Subcontractor of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
These businesses, along with other national winners and finalists for the National Small Business Person of the Year, participated in a recognition ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace on April 30, during National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C. SBA Administrator Linda McMahon presented the awards.
The federal government awarded more than $99 billion of all federal contracts to small businesses in FY16, which translates to more than 537,000 jobs supporting revenue in the United States economy.
The two small businesses were selected from among a strong field of candidates submitted by SBA's ten regional offices. The awards honor small businesses that provide outstanding goods or services to the federal government as prime contractors or as subcontractors.
Details on this year's winners are:
Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year
Weil Construction Inc. of Albuquerque, N.M. — Prior to founding Weil Construction in 2005, Chris Weil worked as a senior project manager for one of New Mexico's oldest and most established construction companies building schools, community centers and judicial facilities throughout New Mexico and Arizona. Weil's expertise helped him launch Weil Construction Inc., a construction company and small disadvantaged business certified in SBA's 8(a) and HUBZone programs. The company specializes in new construction, renovations, remodels, tenant improvements, facility repairs and systems upgrades.
Weil Construction benefitted from the assistance of an SBA-backed loan, SCORE and a Small Business Development Center. Weil participated in SBA's Emerging Leaders Program and graduated in 2016. Weil Construction has 45 employees, satellite offices in Colorado Springs, Colo., Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas, and made $13 million in revenues in 2017. The company specializes in federal and non-federal projects. Its federal clients include GSA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Aviation Administration and the National Park Service.
Small Business Subcontractor of the Year
Evans Capacitor Company of East Providence, R.I. — Before co-founding Evans Capacitor Company with Charles Dewey in 1996, David Evans led the engineering group that developed processes and material for hermetic packaging of capacitors and novel capacitor technologies. Dewey later joined Evans in launching Evans Capacitor to develop capacitor technology for the defense and aerospace industry. Prior to joining Evans Capacitor, Dewey held various management positions in production management, technical marketing and finance with several companies. Evans Capacitor developed the machining process used in high capacity capacitors and was one of the early developers of high energy density capacitors employing an electrochemical cathode and electrolytic anode.
Evans continues to invent, research and develop the capacitor technology while leading the engineering team at Evans Capacitor and Dewey provides oversight and direction of operations. The company delivers high power density capacitors to more than 100 customers annually, including every major U.S. defense contractor. It has production facilities in Rhode Island and Maine. In 2010, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control honored Evans Capacitor for its 100 percent quality and delivery ratings.
SBA's 8(a) Business Development program
A nine-year program which provides socially and economically disadvantaged firms access to government contracting opportunities and specialized business training and counseling to help them become viable competitors in the federal marketplace.
8(a) Graduate Firm of the Year
Carlos Del Toro, a 27-year Navy veteran and White House Fellow, founded SBG Technology Solutions Inc. in 2004. SBG provides IT solutions, program management services, enterprise engineering, cyber security services, software development, call center technology and services and training to federal and commercial clients nationwide. It has 180 employees and has generated more than $30 million in revenues in 2016 alone.
Del Toro credits the 8(a) Business Development program with not only refining SBG's business practices — a result critical to the firm's initial growth — but also positioning it for continued success after graduation from the program. Since graduating from the program, SBG won a highly competitive contract valued at more than $50 million to provide engineering services to the U.S. Navy.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence
The final procurement award includes The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizes large prime contractors that have excelled in utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors. The recipient is: Construction —Brad Lewis, corporate director of supplier diversity of Hensel Phelps Construction Co. in Greeley, Colo.
For more than 80 years, construction has been the core of Hensel Phelps's business. It offers a full range of construction services combined with the latest technology and world-class craftsmanship. As corporate director of supplier diversity, Lewis works with the company's nine district offices nationwide to support subcontractors' growth, encourage small business outreach, promote mutually beneficial partnerships for small and minority-owned businesses and provide training. Hensel Phelps regularly relies on the SBA, Small Business Development Centers and Procurement Technical Centers to advertise subcontracting opportunities.
In FY 2017, Hensel Phelps awarded 70.9 percent of subcontracts totaling $147.3 million in subcontracting dollars to small businesses, $51.7 million in subcontracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses, $71.7 million in subcontracting dollars to women-owned businesses, $35.1 million in subcontracting dollars to HUBZone small businesses and $40.4 million in subcontracting dollars to veteran-owned businesses. Service disabled veteran-owned small businesses received $37.9 million in subcontracting dollars.
For more information, visit sba.gov/nsbw.
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