Mentor-Protégé Program |
By Andy Alexander The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded a new Mentor-Protégé Program agreement to Northrop Grumman, which will mentor CSSS.NET, through the Department of Defense (DoD) Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP). This is the first Northrop Grumman MPP agreement with NGA. This is a federal initiative to facilitate key technology transfer from large businesses to small businesses to improve the caliber of the small businesses that are serving the DoD and the federal government. Under this three-year arrangement, Northrop Grumman will help CSSS.NET expand its Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) capabilities. On November 20, CSSS.NET, Northrop Grumman, and NGA formally recognized this partnership by hosting a Small Business Industry Day. This provided a forum for NGA to educate large and small businesses about the value of the Mentor-Protégé Program, with either NGA or other agencies of the federal government. Speakers included representatives from NGA (Sandra Broadnax), Northrop Grumman’s Mentor Protégé Program (Sharon Whittaker), the Small Business Administration (SBA) (Kathleen Piper), and NBDC’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) (Andy Alexander). This was an excellent opportunity for large and small businesses to meet with the government and to learn from several experts at one time. CSSS.NET, founded in 1997 by Lisa N. Wolford, is a SBA-certified 8(a) company, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) and a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE). In the past ten years, CSSS.NET has grown from their Nebraska headquarters to also include employees in Chicago, Washington, DC, West Virginia, New Mexico and Texas. CSSS.NET has been a NBDC PTAC program client since May 2001. CSSS.NET provides information technology and engineering services to a number of contracts within the DoD, including work at USSTRATCOM, Air Force Weather Agency and Offutt Air Force Base. They also continue to broaden their base of federal government clients outside of the DoD. CSSS.NET was named the prime contractor on a national project for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in 2005. This project gives network support to the VHA’s locations nationwide, and also oversees the fifth largest deployment of Microsoft Exchange ever implemented. Currently, CSSS.NET employees also work for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and for several branches of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This year, CSSS.NET was named to the 2007 Inc. 5000, a listing of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. as compiled by Inc. Magazine, CSSS.NET ranks number 675 overall, with a three year revenue growth of 488%. CSSS.NET ranks sixth out of all companies in Nebraska, and 72nd among top companies in IT services. Previous awards for CSSS.NET include the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Small Business Award of Excellence in 2006 and the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce Small Business Award of Excellence in 2005. We are very proud of CSSS.NET and especially of the leadership and success of its President/CEO Lisa Wolford.
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