An EM contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently partnered with the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) for the Savannah River Federal Business Opportunities Forum, a two-day event held in North Augusta, South Carolina. 

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the forum’s premier sponsor, assisted businesses from multiple states with understanding the diverse and sometimes complex procurement needs found within the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management complex.

“SRNS supports the ETEBA forum each year to bring together federal agencies, prime contractors and our supply base, for a meaningful exchange of ideas and business opportunities,” said Dennis Carr, SRNS President and Chief Executive Officer. “It is an incredible time to do business with SRNS and contribute to our national security and clean-up missions.”

According to Elizabeth Harm, ETEBA Executive Director, the eighth annual forum exceeded her expectations, with over 350 attendees.

“I am confident in saying this was our best forum yet,” said Harm. “There was such an incredible ‘buzz’ this year about the new opportunities moving ahead at SRS; and I witnessed that excitement across all in attendance. Everyone here is interested in doing business with SRS and meeting infrastructure needs."

SRNS is quickly growing in multiple areas while rapidly hiring personnel for their expanding missions.

According to Jay Johnson, SRNS Deputy Vice President of Contracts and Supply Chain Management, ETEBA offers unique opportunities to bring together suppliers, technical leaders, and procurement professionals to exchange ideas and capabilities that are vital to enabling DOE missions 

“ETEBA delivered a great forum for our SRNS leadership team to share the significant infrastructure needs at SRS to prospective subcontractors,” said Johnson. Supplier participation was the highest since bringing this forum to the Southeast Region of the United States.”

Lisa Tanner, SRNS Senior Manager, Supply Chain Excellence, Small Business Liaison Officer, said, “We are always looking for ways to create strong, long-term buyer/supplier relationships, especially with small and minority-owned businesses. SRNS will continue to rely on industry partners – large and small – to meet our procurement needs as we progress in our transition from Environmental Management to National Nuclear Security Administration landlordship.”

The forum concluded with the SRNS-sponsored “matchmaking” event, where suppliers had eight-minute interviews with SRNS Buyers and Site Services managers. 

“The ‘matchmaking’ event connected our team with 75 potential suppliers, with many specializing in construction,” continued Tanner. “Out of the 75, we’ve pinpointed 15 new suppliers that are extremely strong candidates for future contracts.”

The full-day event featured panel discussions from many SRNS executives who shared business opportunities with DOE-SRS Procurement, SRNS, Battelle Savannah River Alliance, Savannah River National Laboratory and Savannah River Mission Completion. Leaders from both SRNS Pit Production Operations and Programs and Fluor Federal Services, the construction management subcontractor responsible for construction of the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility, provided updates and opportunities related to the pit production mission at SRS.

Michael Mikolanis, NNSA Savannah River Field Office Manager, briefed the attendees as part of a site overview presentation at the start of the event and said “the numerous infrastructure improvements and projects underway on-site show that SRS is a critical component of the nation’s national security complex and will be an essential part of the community and nation for decades to come. ETEBA plays an important role meeting this need.” 

ETEBA is a non-profit trade association representing over 250 small, mid-sized and large companies and affiliate members providing environmental, technology, energy, engineering, construction and related services to government and commercial clients.