BETHESDA, Md., March 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense has given Lockheed Martin its Nunn-Perry Award for mentoring a small business doing work with the department.
"A chief objective of the corporation is to maintain a world-class supply base, one that enables program excellence and enhances shareholder value," said Nancy Deskins, director of Corporate Agreements and Supplier Diversity for Lockheed Martin. "Using diverse suppliers makes good business sense and contributes to mission success."
Under the mentor-protege agreement with the Defense Department, Lockheed has assisted ISYS Technologies in developing its business infrastructure and engineering and information technology capabilities to perform as a premier small woman-owned business supplier to the Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The companies combined efforts to perform work on and bid more than 20 government programs over the past three years, with ISYS leveraging its engineering and technology capabilities in critical areas such as systems engineering, software engineering, cybersecurity, military analysis, network operations and mechanical engineering.
As part of the initiative, Lockheed worked with the Alabama A&M to provide marketing assistance to ISYS Technologies.
"The mentoring assistance provided by Lockheed Martin and Alabama A&M has proven to be invaluable to ISYS," said Teresa Porter, chief executive officer of ISYS Technologies. "It has allowed us to progress our infrastructure and business practices and mature our past performance, both critical areas which will allow us to support the mission to serve and protect those who serve and protect us."
The award is named in honor of former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., for his vision and insight in sponsoring legislation to create and fund the Department of Defense Mentor-Protege program.
