B&W Pantex Honored for Business Impact

  • Posted: Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 12:00 am

​The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce will host a reception Thursday to recognize B&W Pantex for its success in supporting small and local businesses. The reception will bring together business and community leaders, elected officials and Pantex representatives to celebrate a remarkable series of awards to Pantex over the past year.

“For nearly 70 years, Pantex has been proud to be a supporter of the business community in the Texas Panhandle,” said B&W Pantex General Manager John Woolery. “It is gratifying to be recognized for that commitment by leaders in this area.”

Please join us to help recognize the important contribution B&W Pantex makes to the local economy. The reception will be from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce offices, 1000 S. Polk St. Interviews with officials from Pantex, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Chamber will be available.

B&W Pantex has received three prestigious awards during the past year for its efforts to support small and local businesses.

The SBA selected B&W Pantex as the recipient of the 2011 Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizing the contractor for its exceptional utilization of small businesses in subcontracting. Pantex was also selected by the SBA as the winner of the 2012 Frances Perkins Vanguard Award for work with women-owned small businesses.

Most recently, the Department of Energy selected Pantexan Brad Brack as the Management and Operations (M&O) Small Business Program Manager of the Year for his efforts to strengthen subcontracting with local small businesses.

The awards recognize the success of B&W Pantex in greatly exceeding goals each year for working with small businesses and various classes of disadvantaged small businesses, including businesses owned by women, veterans and minorities. Pantex has achieved these successes by creating a small business program that consistently directs subcontracting dollars to small businesses, while reaching out to new suppliers and providing training opportunities for new subcontractors who wish to do business at the plant.

In fiscal year 2011, B&W Pantex spent nearly $112 million on subcontracting, with $74 million of that going to small businesses. More than $24 million was spent in the local market.

“We know that small businesses are the engines that drive our economy and help to create new jobs,” said B&W Pantex Supply Chain Management Division Manager Mike Tryon. “We are proud of the work we do to support those small businesses and we believe it has a positive impact on our economy.”