Who will be the 2010 contractor of the year?

UPDATE: I just returned from the 2010 Greater Washington Government Awards dinner and wanted to provide a quick update. This has not been copyedited so forgive any typos.

Partnership was a recurring theme of the awards ceremony presented Wednesday night.

From the public sector partners of the year – Soraya Correa of the Homeland Security Department and Charlie Williams Jr. of the Defense Contract Management Agency – to the executives of large, midsized and small businesses the oft repeated catch phrase was partnering.

The annual awards program is presented by the Fairfax County, Va., Chamber of Commerce, the Professional Services Council and Washington Technology.

The winners this year were:

Contractor of the year under $25 million in annual revenue

Blue Canopy Group LLC and Digital Management Inc.

The judges said they felt the two were close in their accomplishments to pick one over the other.

In accepting for Digital Management, Jay Sunny Bajaj, CEO, quipped that being in a tie is like “kissing your sister. But since we partner a lot with Blue Canopy, I’ll kiss them anytime.”

Contractor of the year $25 million to $75 million

Buccaneer Computer Systems & Service Inc.

Contractor of the year $75 million to $300 million

A-T Solutions Inc.

Contractor of the year over $300 million

CGI Federal

Executive of the year under $75 million in annual revenue

Anne Reed of ASI Government

Executive of the year $75 million to $300 million

Long Nguyen of Pragmatics Inc.

Nguyen provided the emotional punch of the evening when he spoke of how so many Vietnamese people came to the United States following the fall of Saigon in 1975 and found freedom and opportunity in the United States.

“I want to thank America for all the opportunities she has shown immigrants,” Nguyen said. “We have worked hard to achieve the American Dream and we are very glad to repay our debt to America.”

His remarks drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

Executive of the year over $300 million

Ralph Shrader of Booz Allen Hamilton

All of the winners and their companies have unique and important stories to tell, so over the next few weeks look their stories here at Washington Technology.

Below is the blog posting that went up on Tuesday where you can find a listing of all the finalists for this year's awards.

There is no red carpet to walk or self-appointed pundits critiquing outfits, but for the finalists vying for the 2010 Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards this might as well be the Academy Awards.

Winners in seven categories will be named Wednesday night as the Fairfax County, Va., Chamber of Commerce, the Professional Services Council and Washington Technology present the annual awards dinner.

The votes have been counted and the envelopes sealed, so no one knows – except the judges – who the winners are.

It is one of those rare moments where there is some suspense as finalists are called and then a winner named.

That moment of surprise creates great moments of humility and joy as winners take the stage and offer thanks to colleagues and loved ones. Some of the more touching moments have come when winners speak about the inspiration and support provided by parents and spouses.

For an industry battered by scandals, it is a moment to relax and revel in the accomplishments, not just of winners but of government contractors everywhere.

The 2010 finalists are:

Contractor of the Year (less than $25 million)
Blue Canopy Group LLC
CPS Professional Services
Digital Management Inc.
Fulcrum IT
Synergy Enterprises Inc.

Contractor of the Year ($25 million to $75 million)
Buccaneer Computer Systems & Service Inc.
Capstone Corp.
QED Group LLC
The Tauri Group LLC
Zimmerman Associates Inc.

Contractor of the Year ($75 million to $300 million)
A-T Solutions Inc.
Global Defense Technology & Systems Inc.
MicroTech
Pragmatics Inc.
Systems Planning & Analysis Inc.

Contractor of the Year (greater than $300 million)
CGI Federal
ICF International
Intelligent Decisions
Serco Inc.
SGT (Stinger Ghaffrain Technology)

Executive of the Year (less than $75 million)
Anne Reed, Acquisition Solutions Inc.
Allen Cage, AOC Solutions Inc.
Gary Nakamoto, Base Technologies Inc.
Susan Kidd, DRT Strategies, Inc.
Prachee Devadas, Synergy Enterprises Inc.

Executive of the Year ($75 million to $300 million)
Tim Keenan, High Performance Technologies Inc.
Tony Jimenez, MicroTech
Dr. Long Nguyen, Pragmatics Inc.
Michelle S. Lee, STG International Inc.
Phillip E Lantz, Systems Planning & Analysis Inc.

Executive of the Year (greater than $300 million)
John Belcher, Arinc Inc.
Ralph Shrader, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
George Schindler, CGI Federal
Linda Mills, Northrop Grumman Corp.
Ed Casey, Serco

While the above finalists will stay in the dark until winners are called, two categories already know they have won.

The Public Sector Partners award goes to Charlie Williams, Defense Contract Management Agency, and Soraya Correa, Homeland Security Department.

The Hall of Fame inductee, who we profiled earlier, is Clifford M. Kendall, founder, Computer Data Systems Inc.