NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – Jefferson Science Associates, the operations and management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, has presented its fiscal year 2014 Outstanding Small Business Subcontractor Award to a machining and fabrication firm located in Hampton, Va.
Vision Machine and Fabrication Corp., a small, woman-owned business located at 2100 Mingee Dr., Hampton, has been doing customized manufacturing work for Jefferson Lab since 2006. The company has completed more than 100 orders for the lab, according to Small Business Program Manager, Danny Lloyd.
Their work has included three fabrication subcontracts – building parts for a new superconducting magnet, the CLAS12 Torus, which is the heart of the new nuclear physics detector system being installed in Experimental Hall B as part of the 12 GeV Upgrade. Vision produced the cold mass shield assemblies, the cold beams, and the coil cases and covers, which are large parts with complicated geometry and tight tolerance requirements, according to Machine Shop Manager Dave McCay.
JSA, Jefferson Lab and Department of Energy managers recently presented the award to Amy Panholzer, Vision’s chief financial officer and vice president, and her husband Adam Panholzer, chief executive officer and president, at a reception held at the lab.
Department of Energy Site Manager Joe Arango congratulated the company on earning the award and for its part in supporting Jefferson Lab’s research mission. “Your contribution to DOE and Jefferson Lab is important, and we appreciate the good work that you do.”
Lloyd described the process used to select the award recipient: “Winning this award is tough,” he remarked. “More than 400 small companies that do business with Jefferson Lab were eligible for this award. Based on performance, the top 22 were identified, and then the final four. A panel, called the small business advocacy team, was convened to review the selections and decide on the top company.”
“Small businesses are very important to a significant amount of highly specialized work required by the lab,” Lloyd said. “You truly deserve this recognition.”
Subcontracts Manager, Mitch Laney, echoed the congratulations and remarked on the ability of Vision’s staff to be flexible while maintaining costs and schedule as setting them apart from other contenders for the FY14 award.
When accepting the award, Amy Panholzer said, “We are honored to work for you. Thank you very much. You have been a great group to work with and we hope to continue this relationship far into the future. We strive to do and deliver quality work.”
In response, Mary Logue, acting chief operating officer, noted, “They said they were honored to work for us. But after reading the submission describing their accomplishments and professional attributes, I’m honored to have you [Vision] working with us.”
The purpose of the award program is to recognize and reward the top performing small firms doing business with Jefferson Lab, according to Lloyd. Any small business, including women-owned, veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran, HUBZone, or disadvantaged business doing work for Jefferson Lab may be considered for the award. The lab has presented the award annually since 1991.