Who are 2017's best government contractors?
By
Nick Wakeman
The annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards program recognized four companies and three executives for their success in the past year, as well as inducted a new member of the GovCon Hall of Fame.
Four companies and three executives were recognized Wednesday night as the best in the government contracting field by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Services Council.
The recognitions came as part of the annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards program that the chamber and PSC produce each year.
The individuals and businesses are honored for their success as well as their contributions to employees and the community.
Awards are given in four revenue categories for the companies and three revenue categories for the executives.
Winners are not told they have won until they are called to the stage during the annual gala dinner.
The year’s best contractors are
- Spear Inc. (up to $25 million revenue category)
- Patriot Group International ($25 million-75 million)
- Altamira Technologies ($75-300 million)
- DAI (greater than $300 million)
The top executives are:
- Dawn Halfaker, Halfacker & Associates LLC (up to $75 million)
- Joe Martore, Calibre Systems ($75 million -$300 million)
- Sudhakar Kesavan, ICF (greater than $300 million)
Halfaker offered the night’s most poignant moment when she thanked the soldiers who saved her life after she was wounded in 2004 during a combat patrol in Iraq. The awards dinner fell on the 13th anniversary of her wounding.
Also at the awards dinner, Greg Giddens, executive director of the Office of Acquisitions, Logistics and Construction at Veterans Affairs, was named the 2017 Public Sector Partner of the Year.
The Tauri Group also was recognized for having the project of the year for a program that tests the safety of medical equipment used by the military around the globe.
In accepting the award, Tauri Group Cos DiMaggio honored SRA International founder Ernst Volgenau, who earlier had been tapped for the GovCon Hall of Fame.
DiMaggio started his career in 1983 at SRA.
“I was taking notes on the kind of company I wanted to create,” he said. “I had more positive things on my list than negative.”
When he founded Tauri Group in 2001 it was with a simple concept. “Respect,” DiMaggio said. “Respect for the employees, respect for the customer and respect for the work.”