LANL signs first mentor-protégé agreement with a tribal business

New Mexico Business Weekly

Los Alamos National Security LLC, which manages Los Alamos National Laboratory, is entering into its first mentor-protégé agreement with TSAY Construction and Services LLC, a small business that is owned and operated by Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo (formerly San Juan Pueblo).

This is the first business owned and operated by an American Indian pueblo to be part of the mentor-protégé program, says Steve Sandoval, spokesman for LANL.

Under the agreement, LANL will provide technical assistance in marketing, proposal development, networking with potential customers, purchasing management, project management and quality assurance. The agreement is designed to help TSAY improve its ability to compete for contracts across the complex.

The contract signing takes place today in Los Alamos.

"This agreement is very important to the Laboratory and our neighbors as it allows us to use our technical expertise to benefit a local small business over the long haul," said Michael Anastasio, LANL director, in a prepared statement.

TSAY Construction & Services was named the Department of Energy's 8(a) Small Business of the Year at an award ceremony last month in Washington, D.C. The company currently does remediation and demolition, facilities support services and construction at LANL, and with the DOE, Department of Defense and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The mentor-protégé program is a DOE program design to encourage local community involvement and stimulate the local economy. In addition to the mentor-protégé agreement, TSAY has initiated a separate agreement with San Ildefonso Pueblo where it will assist and mentor San Ildefonso in building capacity, equipping the Pueblo to enter into the federal contracting market and eventually pursue work at LANL. Governor Earl Salazar of Ohkay Owingeh calls it an "Indian mentor-protégé" agreement.

"Ohkay Owingeh, through TSAY, made a deliberate decision five years ago to invest and build our capacity to provide quality services to the federal government and their major subcontractors," Salazar said in a prepared statement.