By Denise Perreault
PBN Staff Writer
WASHINGTON – North Smithfield-based Banneker Industries Inc. was honored yesterday as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2008 National Subcontractor of the Year during a luncheon in the nation’s capital that helped mark National Small Business Week.
Accepting the award for Banneker were Cheryl Watkins Snead, the company’s founder, president and CEO, and Roland Snead, its executive vice president, according to the SBA’s Rhode Island district office in Providence.
Banneker has become a major player in supply-chain management solutions for the federal government and private sector, the SBA said. The company – a graduate of the SBA’s 8(a) program (READ MORE) – previously has received the 2005 Nunn Perry Award from the U.S. Department of Defense; Women Business Enterprise of the Year honors from the U.S. Department of Transportation; and Supplier of the Year honors from both Raytheon Co.’s Integrated Defense Systems division (Raytheon IDS) and the New England Minority Supplier Development Council. It has been named the New England Women-Owned Business of the Year and ranked by DiversityBusiness.com among its top 500 “diversity-owned” small businesses nationwide. And in October, founder Cheryl Snead was honored as the SBA’s 2007 Rhode Island Minority Small Business Person of the Year. (READ MORE)
“It is this kind of entrepreneurship on the part of small businesses and leadership by corporate and government purchasers that helped small businesses secure more than $78 billion in federal contracts for goods and services last year, helping them grow, create jobs and fuel the nation’s economy,” said national SBA Administrator Steven C. Preston.
The SBA’s 2008 Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year award went to Classic Industries Inc. of Dona Ana, N.M.
Yesterday’s awards luncheon was sponsored by Raytheon and the Minority Business Development Agency. Small business owners, corporate leaders, government officials and volunteers from across the country are in Washington, D.C., for a week-long conference honoring the small business community’s contributions to the national economy.
Banneker Industries Inc., a minority-owned third-party logistics and fulfillment company based in North Smithfield, recently added offices in Indiana and California. The company is ISO 9001: 2000 and AS 9100 certified. To learn more, visit www.banneker.com.
