FY16 Small Business Administrator's Cup Award

Earlier this week, Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot and I traveled to Stennis Space Center, (SSC) located near Bay Saint Louis Mississippi to present the FY16 NASA Small Business Administrator’s Cup Award. This award has been presented to the NASA center that has the best overall agency small business program yearly since 2008. SSC also received this prestige award previously in 2011.

NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot (l) and Associate Administrator of the Office of Small Business Programs Glenn Delgado (r) present the 2016 NASA Small Business Administrator’s Cup for small business excellence to Stennis Director Rick Gilbrech during a site visit May 17. Credits: NASA/SSC

In FY2016, Stennis’s team strongly supported the agency’s effort to promote and better integrate all small businesses into the competitive base of NASA contractors, leading to its most successful overall year on record with regard to the percentage of small business awards. Stennis increased in all small business subcategories and went from meeting two small business goals in FY15 to all five in FY16, making it one of only two NASA centers to meet all federally mandated small business goals.

I’d like to recognize Mr. Robert Watts, who, while acting as the Stennis small business specialist, earned the FY16 Small Business Specialist of the Year Award. SSC is only the second center to have both the reigning Small Business Specialist of the Year as well as the Small Business Administrator’s Cup. This is in no small part due to the efforts of SSC Center Director Dr. Richard J. Gilbrech, Procurement Officer Mr. Robert Harris, and all the technical and acquisition personnel at SSC.  

Participants in the presentation of the 2016 NASA Small Business Administrator’s Cup on May 17 included Stennis Office of Procurement Director Rob Harris (l) and former Stennis Small Business Specialist Robert Watts. Watts received the NASA Small Business Specialist of the Year award earlier this spring for his work at Stennis. He recently accepted a position at Johnson Space Center. Credits: NASA/SSC

Congratulations to all those at the Stennis Space Center who contributed to this well-deserved honor and for the outstanding achievements they accomplished during FY-16.