Fred Brown
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    January 24, 2001
(Phone: 202/358-0713)

RELEASE: 01-10

NASA MAKES THE A-TEAM FOR MULTICULTURAL CONTRACT AWARDS

     Efforts by its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business 
Utilization really paid off recently when NASA was named one of 
America's top 50 organizations for providing multicultural 
business opportunities. NASA received the honor after the first 
Internet-based election involving more than 50 thousand of 
America's leading women- and minority-owned businesses.

"As a premier high-technology federal agency, we're happy to 
know that we're on the right track," said Ralph C. Thomas III, 
NASA's Associate Administrator for Small and Disadvantaged 
Business Utilization. "We consider this award to be an 
endorsement from the small- and multicultural-business community 
of the innovative programs and initiatives we implement to 
attract those firms that have provided us with high-quality 
goods and services at the lowest practicable cost."

Div2000.com, a business portal providing the link among 
multicultural businesses, Fortune 1000 companies, government 
agencies and universities, conducted the election.

Fiscal year 2000 was a banner year for NASA as the agency 
awarded more than $2 billion in contracts to minority- and 
women-owned firms. The figure represents 18.3 percent of NASA's 
total contract dollars and is NASA's highest accomplishment ever 
with such firms.  It compares with just 7.2 percent or $865 
million in FY 92.

The "top 50" list also included such companies as IBM, Boeing, 
Microsoft, 3Com, Wal-Mart and Cisco Systems. NASA's Office of 
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is located at NASA 
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

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