When the deactivation and remediation contractor Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership, LLC (FRNP), won its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Paducah site in 2017, DOE established aggressive purchasing goals to help small businesses maximize opportunities with the new contractor. FRNP met or exceeded these goals as reported through the Small Business Administration by the end of its five-year base period, which ended in June. Since the start of FRNP’s contract, approximately 66% of procurements have been awarded to small businesses.

With a recent 3-year extension to its contract, FRNP continues to foster long-term business relationships with small businesses, including disadvantaged, HUBZone, woman-owned, woman-owned disadvantaged, veteran-owned, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.

“Small businesses serve as an anchor for the U.S. economy, employing nearly half of U.S. workers today,” FRNP Business Services Director Cory Hicks said. “Our team routinely seeks opportunities to further develop existing relationships with our small business vendors and continue to invest resources into leveraging new relationships. I am proud of the hard work our team has devoted to prioritizing small business procurement.”

DOE supports efforts to connect small businesses to its prime contractors at the Paducah site. It’s the department’s goal to increase small business participation in the cleanup mission.

“Small businesses bring value to our cleanup project at the Paducah site in a number of ways,” FRNP Program Manager Myrna Redfield said. “Paducah has a strong history of employing small businesses at the site. We want to continue to bolster our vendor database with small businesses who can help us advance our work in Paducah.”

FRNP recently expanded its small business relationships, adding A2RGC to its long list of small business vendors. A2RGC is a joint venture between ARS Aleut Remediation, LLC, a mentor/protégé wholly owned subsidiary of Aleut Federal, LLC, and Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.

“We are proud to partner with FRNP, expanding our footprint in Paducah,” Aleut General Manager Mark Gragg said. “Our team is prepared to support DOE’s cleanup goals and objectives, enhancing the progress already being achieved at the Paducah site.”