Military Sealift Command's small business program was formally recognized in a ceremony at the Pentagon where Under Secretary of the Navy Robert Work presented the Secretary's Award for the Department of the Navy's Outstanding Small Business Program in fiscal year 2007 to MSC Commander Rear Adm. Robert D. Reilly, Jr., and MSC Associate Director of Small Business Bradley D. Taylor.
This is the first time MSC has received the award, which was created in 2002 to recognize a command's success in meeting its small business program targets and the implementation of its Small Business Improvement Plan.
MSC awards approximately $400m of its $3b annual budget to small U.S. businesses. These firms fulfill MSC's critical requirements, such as ship repair, vessel-operating contracts and charters, harbor tugs, port services, engineering and information technology services, and layberths.
While this award recognizes performance in fiscal year 2007, MSC's small business program continues to excel. In fiscal year 2009, the command beat its total previous year small business goals by 35 percent, including a 162 percent performance increase in service-disabled-veteran-owned small business firms and a 414 percent increase to small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones - urban or rural communities that attract few businesses.
All Navy contracting commands are considered for this annual award and are judged based on a comparison with their previous year achievements. Judging criteria includes a performance evaluation of the quality and quantity of actions taken to increase small-business participation, training and outreach initiatives and the command's progress in implementing the Department of the Navy's Small Business Improvement Plan.
