A long time Army Contracting Command-Rock Island (ACC-RI) contracting officer, Cindy Wagoner, has received the Department of the Army Office of Small Business Programs Contracting Professional of the Year award. According to a nomination document signed by Maj. Gen. Steven A. Shapiro, commanding general, Army Sustainment Command (ASC), Wagoner is among the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC’s) finest and her commitment was significant in the Small Business community, especially within the achievements of ASC and Joint Munitions Command (JMC) Small Business Office.

Wagoner, who has been with the Government for 31 years, received this award for the period of Oct. 1, 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019. Wagoner said that she was completely surprised because she was not aware that they even put her name in for the award.

“They had put me in for one a year ago and I did not get that one,” said Wagoner. “Then all of a sudden, I get a call saying that I got this Small Business award.”

Wagoner says that it was a complete surprise because she has always worked with Small Business and all her work on JMC’s Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) program is 98% 8(a) and Alaska Native. According to www.sba.gov, 8(a) is defined as a business assistance program for small disadvantaged businesses.

Wagoner’s nomination was authored by Dianne Stoffa, Small Business Professional, and Angela Williams, Assistant Director Office of Small Business Programs – Rock Island.

Stoffa says that a deciding factor for her receiving this award is that Wagoner is a real go-getter on supporting the Small Business program.

“Anytime she worked with the program manager, she got them in a position to think Small Business first,” said Stoffa. “That’s one of the reasons we chose her, because pretty much everything on the LLRW program is done through 8(a), which really helped us meet our goals for both Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Business for FY19.”

Wagoner’s achievements helped ASC Small Business exceed the goals in the categories of Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone). HUBZone helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities.

Both Williams and Stoffa say that Wagoner’s support has not only benefited ASC Small Business, but JMC as well, due to her work on certain programs, such as the LLRW program and Crane Army Ammunition Plant. Stoffa says the overall Small Business Program at Rock Island, with the exception of the Corp of Engineers, is administered by ASC.

“Any actions that are done through ACC-RI would go towards our overall goals that are managed by our office, within Army Sustainment Command,” said Stoffa. “The work that Cindy did within ACC-RI just helps our overall goals.”

Stoffa cited that Cindy took the initiative to talk to specific contractors to setup capability presentations, which is normally something the Small Business Office would handle.

“Some of the burden was taken off of the Small Business Office because Cindy instigated those meetings with the program manager, our office and her contracting staff,” said Stoffa. “That’s something that she specifically did that helped everybody get the knowledge to know how to do business with the Government.”

Williams says that the Small Business Office held a small award ceremony for Wagoner via Microsoft Teams.

“Under normal circumstances, Cindy would have been recognized for this award during the annual Small Business Training Week, which last year had over 800 participants,” said Williams. “Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s training week was held virtually with a limited number of participants.”

Stoffa says that the Small Business Office appreciates all the hard work Wagoner has done to help the overall Small Business Program, and encourages other contracting professionals to consider Small Business options.