SRNS Invests Millions in Small Businesses, Creating Jobs, Helping to Put America Back to Work
Friday, October 9th, 2020
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) is using a proven, grassroots initiative to create jobs locally, regionally and nationally, by growing small business- es, both in size and number. Over the last five years, SRNS purchased more than $1 billion in products and services from small businesses throughout the U.S.
Just last year, 75 percent of SRNS procurement dollars went to small business subcontracts. Furthermore, more than $150 million of those purchases were dedicated to small businesses found throughout the five-county region surrounding the Savannah River Site (SRS).
“When you look at how we get people engaged to increase economic growth, it starts with small businesses,” said SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean. “It’s these companies that drive the economic en- gine of our nation, and SRNS will con- tinue to work with the Department of Energy to make a significant impact in this area.”
According to SRNS Small Business Liaison Officer Alex Agyemang, extensive data and studies dem- onstrate that small businesses offered the same quality of products and services provided by large companies, but at a lower cost, due to lower overhead expenditures.
“The third and possibly most important point is, we expect to see a continued positive impact where unemployment is further reduced as we help increase the number of opportunities for small businesses,” said Agyemang. “To date, it’s been a hugely successful and synergistic pro- gram, especially throughout numerous nearby communities.”
Harris Weinstein, the president of KAMO Manufacturing, explained that he was unsure at the start of the pandemic if employees at his small local business would have to be sent home. “SRNS was one of the first companies to step forward and help us not only to stay open but take that next step to further grow our business.
“We spent the first 90 days of the pandemic working with numerous SRNS procurement staff members around the clock, seven days a week, to get items that would ensure the safety of SRS employees. We were able to locate and deliver these highly sought-after products by sending delivery trucks all over the country,” he said.
Weinstein added that being able to support essential businesses, like SRS, ensured their em- ployees never missed a paycheck, while creating an opportunity to hire new employees that had previously been laid off from other industries.
“Like KAMO, the majority of companies in America today are classified as small businesses, and more than two-thirds of all net new jobs in the nation come from small companies,” said Agyemang. “They are the ‘backbone’ of U.S. commerce.
“Want to make this nation commercially great again? We have the methods and experience at SRNS to make it happen here. We’re working hard to do our part,” he added.
