INL News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2016
NEWS MEDIA CONTACTS:
Laurara Scheele, 219-381-8672, [email protected]
Tabrie Landon, 208-360-6004, [email protected]
INL receives national recognition for Small Business Program
IDAHO FALLS – The U.S. Department of Energy selected Stacey Francis as the 2015 Facility Management Contractor Small Business Program Manager of the Year for her commitment to partnering small businesses with Idaho National Laboratory.
As INL’s Small Business Program manager, Francis takes great pride and responsibility in implementing a program that has delivered exceptional value to the DOE, and significantly grown the small business portion of INL’s contract portfolio.
In Fiscal Year 2015, the INL Small Business Program exceeded all six socioeconomic goals for the second time since Francis has been at the helm. Notably, her efforts resulted in exceeding the small disadvantaged business goal by 40 percent and the woman-owned goal by over 200 percent. Rick Provencher, DOE-Idaho Operations Office manager, said, “These accomplishments help ensure the lab and government have access to the best competitive rates while supporting a sufficient small business base to ensure quality delivery of services and products.”
Francis’ supervisor, Don Stevens, Strategic Sourcing and Procurement Support manager, said, “Stacey Francis has led INL’s Small Business Program to increase small business awards yearly, leading to FY 2015’s outstanding goal-breaking numbers. She is a great coach, and a great cheerleader for the entire small business team. She truly deserves recognition as Facility Management Contractor Small Business Program Manager of the Year.”
Within INL, Francis initiated the Procurement Primer, a presentation that provides training to INL employees interested in the procurement process. She also worked with Information Management to maximize the use of small businesses for a variety of staff augmentation needs.
As part of the INL outreach program, she renewed a local Small Business Workshop to help small business owners understand how to market their businesses to the government and government contractors. More than 30 small business owners attended, half of them newcomers to the government small business market.
Francis was recognized for her dedicated support to INL’s Small Business Program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s 15th Annual DOE Small Business Forum & Expo on May 24 in Atlanta, Georgia.