The Energy Department had the pleasure of publicly recognizing the FY 2011 Small Business Award Winners at an award ceremony on Wednesday at our headquarters in Washington, DC. We are very grateful for the extraordinary work that our 14 awardees have done to further the mission of the Energy Department. The awards program celebrates small businesses and their advocates in their many achievements and successes in the work they do with the Energy Department.

As Secretary Chu said at the ceremony, the ability to create a small business is part of the American dream. “You are limited only by your imagination, by your courage,” he said. “It’s not always about money – it’s about getting new ideas out there as quickly as possible.”

The awardees are from Oklahoma, Texas, California, Washington, Louisiana, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Energy headquarters in Washington D.C. Nominated by small business program managers, these award winners excelled at engaging small businesses with the Department of Energy.

I join Secretary Chu and other senior Energy Department officials in congratulating our award winners:

Federal Small Business Program Manager of the Year
Winner: Gary Bridges, Small Business Program Manager – Tulsa, Oklahoma

Federal Small Business Achievement of the Year (M&O Program Office)
Winner: Office of Nuclear Energy – Washington, D.C.

Federal Small Business Achievement of the Year (non-M&O Program Office)
Winner: Southwestern Power Administration – Tulsa, Oklahoma

M&O Small Business Manager of the Year
Winner: Brad W. Brack, Small Business Program Manager, Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Pantex, LLC – Amarillo, Texas

M&O Small Business Achievement of the Year
Winner: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – Livermore, California

Energy Department Mentor of the Year
Winner: Washington River Protection Solutions – Richland, Washington

Energy Department Protégé of the Year
Winner: Performance Excellence Partners, Inc. – Huntington Beach, California

8(a)/Small Disadvantaged Business of the Year
Winner: ARSEC Environmental, LLC – Port Allen, Louisiana

Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year
Winner: Restoration Services, Inc. – Oak Ridge, Tennessee

HUBZone Small Business of the Year
Winner: Delta-21 Resources, Inc. – Knoxville, Tennessee

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
Winner: HukariAscendent, Inc. – Wheat Ridge, Colorado

SBIR/STTR Small Business of the Year
Winner: Picarro, Inc. – Santa Clara, California

Small Business of the Year
Winner: Eberline Services – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sub-to-Prime Small Business Champion of the Year
Winner: Office of Environmental Management