NASA Highlights 2014 National Small Business Week

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May 12, 2014, 02:19 ET

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA this week joins with President Obama, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other federal agencies in recognizing all that our nation's small businesses have accomplished. NASA has a strong relationship with the small business community which is vital in assisting the agency in reaching its mission goals. National Small Business Week kicks off Monday.

NASA recently recognized the Fiscal Year 2013 NASA Small Business Industry Award winners at NASA Headquarters in Washington. These awards are presented to small and large businesses across the country that provide invaluable services and products to NASA while demonstrating a dedication to our nation's small businesses.

"I am especially proud of NASA's record of support for the small businesses that are essential to our achievement in space and here on Earth," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "In addition to receiving an "A" on the SBA scorecard, NASA is the only federal agency in the past four years to increase its prime awards to small business by $100 million each consecutive year, despite a declining procurement budget."

NASA is proud of its recent achievements with the small business community, including:

--NASA exceeded its small business goal for fiscal year 2013, while increasing small business prime awards dollars for the past four years;
--Approximately $2.7 billion in prime contracts were awarded directly to small businesses, with NASA's prime contractors awarding approximately $2.2 billion in subcontracts in Fiscal Year 2013.

NASA also has continued to push for small business outreach and development, continuing a strong Mentor-Protégé program. With agreements between prime contractors and small businesses throughout the country, NASA hopes to build its competitive base of small business contractors while allowing all companies involved to strengthen and grow.

As NASA beings a new era of space exploration, the agency looks forward to working closer with its small business partners and continue to prove that at NASA, small businesses make a big difference.

For more information about the agency's Small Business program, visit:
http://osbp.nasa.gov/

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SOURCE NASA