Oleson leads slate of top government contractors
By
Nick Wakeman
Ray Oleson, the late chairman of Salient Federal Solutions, will be inducted into the GovCon hall of fame later this fall. He leads a slate of the best contractors in the market being recognized by the Fairfax County Chamber and the Professional Services Council.
Few people were as well-liked and well-respected as Ray Oleson, who died unexpectedly earlier this year.
An executive with CACI International, founder, chairman and CEO of SI International, and chairman of Salient Federal Solutions, Oleson left behind a legacy of business acumen, leadership and just being an all-around good guy.
That legacy will be honored Nov. 13 when he is inducted into the hall of fame as part of the Greater Washington Contractor Awards program produced by the Fairfax County, Va., Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Services Council.
When he died in March, industry executives remembered him for the example he set, particularly Brad Antle, CEO of Salient. Antle also was CEO of SI after Oleson stepped down from that role. They met while Oleson was putting together the financing to launch SI.
“There are so many things he taught me,” Antle said, calling Oleson a role model.
Oleson leads a slate of government contracting executives and companies being recognized as leaders in the market. The finalists in seven categories were announced Thursday night. The winner in each category will be named Nov. 13.
The finalists in each category are:
Contractor of the Year (less than $25 million)
- Amyx Inc.
- Arc Aspicio
- Audacious Inquiry
- IndraSoft Inc.
- MindPoint Group LLC
Contractor of the Year ($25-75 million)
- Attain LLC
- Buchanan & Edwards
- By Light Professional IT Services Inc.
- Eagle Ray Inc.
- NetCentrics Corp.
- Octo Consulting Group
Contractor of the Year ($75-300 million)
- Agilex Technologies Inc.
- Millennium Engineering and Integration Co.
- Noblis
- Phacil
- Systems Made Simple Inc.
Contractor of the Year (greater than $300 million)
- Accenture Federal Services LLC
- American Systems
- Maximus Inc.
- PAE
- Sodexo
Executive of the Year (less than $75 million)
- Satya Akula, president and CEO, Amyx Inc.
- Babs Doherty, president and CEO, Eagle Ray Inc.
- Scott Goss, president and CEO, Preferred Systems Solutions
- Kim Hayes, CEO and co-founder, the Ambit Group LLC
- Mehul Sanghani, president, Octo Consulting Group
Executive of the Year ($75-300 million)
- Jay Challa, chairman and CEO, Ace Info Solutions
- Amr ElSawy, pesident and CEO, Noblis
- Patrick Murphy, president and CEO, Millennium Engineering and Integration Co.
- Julian Setian, CEO, SOS International
- Sharon Virts, CEO and founder, FCi Federal
Executive of the Year (greater than $300 million)
- Anthony Smeraglinolo, president and CEO, Engility
- Anne Altman, general manager, federal government and industries, IBM
- Ellen Glover, executive vice president, ICF International
- Kurt Bergman, CEO, Michael Baker International
- Teresa Bozzelli, senior vice president and managing director, Sapient
The awards are presented annually to recognize leadership, innovation and excellence among government contractors.
In addition to the companies and executives, Air Force Lt. Gen. Wendy Masiello, director of the Defense Contractor Management Agency, will be honored as the government partner of the year.
A best project from among the finalists also will be recognized.
For more information on the event, visit the chamber’s website at www.fairfaxchamber.org.