How 25 Small Federal Contractors Beat the Odds

12. P3I
Location: Hopkinton, Mass.
References: Air Force, Navy, DoT
Categories: 8(a), Women-Owned
Top exec: Janice Guy, President
Partners: N/A
Employees: 95
Year founded: 2000

Nothing proves capability more than a repeat customer, which P3I touts in the Air Force and the Navy, to name a few. That kind of proven track record led to a $5 million contract with the DoT, as well as some big money contracts, including the Information Technology Services Program (ITSP) II blanket-purchase agreement and the Navy Seaport-e vehicle for weapon-systems acquisition and lifecycle management. The company offers hardware and software IT support and Web development, as well as a range of services to ease the headache of procurement processes, including program management and systems-acquisition services, and test- and evaluation-earned value analysis.

13. Acolyst
Location: Fredericksburg, Va.
References: Navy, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Categories: 8(a), Women-Owned, HUBZone
Top exec: Ellie Nazemoff, President/CEO
Partners: Business Objects, CA, IBM, Lenovo, Novell, ViewSonic
Employees: 10
Year founded: 1989

Acolyst has had a very busy year. In addition to its participation in the NAVSEA Seaport-e contract and MOBIS Schedule contract as a prime, the integrator recently opened a solution center to help clients get up close and personal with emerging technologies--an innovative initiative for a channel company that targets the federal government. Beyond that, the company has earned accolades for its success in technical engineering, security and program/project management. In 2005, Acolyst was awarded for being the second-fastest growing solution-integration company nationwide by VARBusiness sister publication CRN, and in 2006, Nazemoff was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Executives in the IT Channel by VARBusiness.

14 Networking Technologies and Support (NTS)
Location: Midlothian, Va.
Reference: DoD
Category: 8(a)
Top exec: Bernard Robinson
Partners: Cisco, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Symantec, Xerox
Employees: 76
Year founded: 1997

Currently, NTS provides the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization with on-site, predictive, remedial and preventive computer-hardware maintenance services. The company is listed on the 8(a) STARS contract and supports federal sites in more than 15 states with customized solutions, technology-assets management, staff augmentation, performance analysis and training. Robinson touts 27 years of marketing and management with such vendors as IBM, CMS Automation and Xerox.

15 Wildflower International
Location: Santa Fe, N.M.
Reference: DoE, Department of the Interior
Categories: Women-Owned, HUBZone
Top exec: Kimberly DeCastro, President/CEO
Partners: Cisco, Dell, F5, Gateway, HP, MPC
Employees: 25
Year founded: 1991

Nothing is more top-of-mind to the government than security, which makes Wildflower International a solution provider more and more federal agencies want to get to know. The company provides synchronization of systems and personnel, infrastructure services and support, targeting security and scientific research communities. Wildflower has received New Mexico's Top 25 Women-Owned Businesses Award for seven years in a row, and in a recent Dun & Bradstreet Past Performance Evaluation, exceeded expectations in all of the areas reviewed: supplier performance, timeliness of delivery, responsiveness to problems, quality of purchased product, total cost, technical support, quantity of deliveries and attitude toward customers.

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