Sonja Alexander                                                  September 21, 1999
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1761)

RELEASE: 99-105

NASA HONORS MINORITY BUSINESSES

NASA today announced the winners of its 1999 Minority Business awards. The winners of the three top awards are:

* Minority Contractor of the Year: Dynacs Corp., Bal Harbour, FL

* Minority Subcontractor of the Year: Information Dynamics Inc., McLean, VA

* Women-Owned Business of the Year: Dynamac Corp., Rockville, MD

Dynacs Corp., which also won in 1997, is the first company to win the Minority Contractor of the Year award twice. Nominated by NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, Dynacs provides technical support for research, development and engineering projects in the Space Shuttle program. Dynacs is one of the most prolific producers of innovations at NASA, having developed 58 new technologies since 1998. This feat put the Kennedy Space Center second among NASA centers in patent applications.

Information Dynamics Inc., a subcontractor at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, supports the information technology requirements for NASA's offices of Earth Science and Space Science. The company develops computer applications, focusing on Internet-based and client-server applications. Because of the company's work, the White House and the U.S. Congress have recognized both offices' Web sites.

Dynamac Corp., also nominated by the Kennedy Space Center, is the first back-to-back recipient of the Women-Owned Business of the Year Award. Dynamac provides technical expertise for NASA's biological research, environmental monitoring, life science flight experiments, biomedical operations and occupational-health programs. Dynamac is currently developing advanced lighting systems for growing plants in space.

During the ceremony, NASA also presented Jackson & Tull Chartered Engineers, Greenbelt, MD, and Rush Construction, Tallahassee, FL, with the Agency's Special Recognition Award for their support and accomplishments.

Five of NASA's field centers and several NASA employees were recognized for their outstanding contributions and innovative approaches to using minority and women-owned businesses. In addition, David Ortiz, procurement center representative with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Glendale, CA, was presented with a Special Recognition Award for using a NASA initiative to match a minority business with a multimillion-dollar, multi-year award at another federal agency.