The Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC), the premier non-profit organization for small and mid-sized companies in homeland and national security, today announced the numerous public and private sector leaders and innovators that will receive awards at the organization’s 2015 Annual Holiday Awards.

“Despite the many challenges, there are so many people in and outside our government working to secure our nation — we are humbled by their service. While we can only recognize a handful of the deserving each year, we want to encourage and appreciate ALL of those who dedicate their lives, careers, and companies to the mission of a safe prepared America” said Kristina Tanasichuk, founder and CEO of the Coalition. “This is our small way of saying thank you.”

Since 2012, the Coalition has developed a series of awards to recognize some of the unsung heroes working to improve how the public and private sector collaborate, assuring that innovation and efficiencies can find their way into the government and encouraging an environment of mentorship in support of the nation’s critical homeland and national security missions.

Federal Small Business Champion of the Year
Jose L. Arrieta
Director, Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Department of the Treasury

Most Valuable Player for Big Data
Scott Shoup
Chief Data Officer
Federal Emergency Management Agency

Most Valuable Player for Cyber Security
Suzanne Spaulding
Under Secretary for the National Protection & Programs Directorate
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Small Business Member of the Year 2015
SE Solutions

Mid-Tier Member of the Year 2015
MorganFranklin Consulting

Mentor of the Year 2015
Motorola Solutions

Market Maven 2015
David Olive
Principal, Catalyst Group Partners
Contributor, Security Debrief

Strategic Partner of the Year
InfraGard National Capital Region Members Alliance

Strategic Advisor of the Year
Elaine Duke
Elaine Duke & Associates

“SE Solutions has engaged deeply with GTSC and leads the organization’s Acquisition and Procurement Action Group. We believe that this work fosters a more open and efficient contracting environment, and we are proud to be a part of improving the quality of this critical area due to its significant impact on mission outcomes,” said John Rothenberger, Founder and CEO of SE Solutions. “GTSC provides us a platform to contribute to this important work, and this aligns with our mission to improve the nation’s homeland security.” The Small Business of the Year award is presented to a company that exemplifies exceptional quality, leadership, and ethics in the Federal market, and is a contributing advocate on behalf of our community.

“Since joining GTSC, MorganFranklin has become more and more engaged because we see progress. We see attention being paid to critical issues like challenges for the middle market, the procurement and acquisition environment, and communication between industry and our government partners,” said Frank Landefeld, Managing Director & Public Sector Market Leader at MorganFranklin Consulting. “These are core areas for all contractors, but they impact those of us concerned with mission the most.” Mid-tier Member of the Year is presented to the firm that has contributed positively to GTSC and to the opportunities, ideas, and understanding of mid-tier companies in the Federal market.

“Motorola Solutions joined GTSC because of the organization’s laser focus on moving things forward,” said Curt Steiner, vice president and director of sales for Motorola Solutions’ U.S. Federal Government Markets. “We engaged with GTSC because we wanted to see some progress in the interoperability mission and from that we reignited an engaged conversation around some of the challenges left to make our first responder community interoperable. Now we can roll up our sleeves and work with our federal partners to drive toward the finish line.” The Mentor of the Year award is presented to the company that has worked to increase GTSC members’ understanding of the homeland and national security market, increased business opportunities for small companies through formal and informal mentoring and engages to promote an innovative, robust, fair market for all.

“GTSC just ‘gets’ it. After years in the federal government, I found the leadership of GTSC to understand the challenges but more importantly, willing to do something about them. They have focused on where help is needed and created avenues, products, and services to fill those needs. I watched as they grew and found that their direction was critical to the success of the homeland market,” said Elaine Duke, CEO of Elaine Duke and Associates and former Under Secretary for Management at DHS. “They are tracking with what the market needs.” The Strategic Advisor of the Year is presented to an individual who works on behalf of GTSC to increase the organization’s capacity, membership and opportunities to bring the innovation, creativity and solutions of small and mid-sized companies to the homeland and national security mission.

“The mission of the FBI’s InfraGard program, particularly here in the National Capital Region, is to encourage sharing of information between private and public sectors to ensure our critical infrastructure is secure,” said Kara Sidener, InfraGardNCR liaison for the FBI. “Our partnership with GTSC is an example of the positive relationships built through the program and the tremendous progress we have made in educating new sectors in this essential effort.”

“I think we were one of GTSC’s first members – I recognized immediately that GTSC was a ‘new’ platform for government and industry to have a place to talk innovation, to talk the ‘hard stuff,’ to get to YES rather than languish in the purgatory of committees, meetings, and more meetings” added David Olive, Principal, the Catalyst Group and the GTSC Market Maven. “Our market must be agile, cooperative and coordinated to protect this nation and GTSC is providing the platform to do that.”

Other awardees include Under Secretary Suzanne Spaulding for her clear vision on how to better leverage existing data, and open source tools while reinforcing NPPD’s mission of protecting assets, systems, networks both real and virtual. FEMA’s Chief Data Officer, Scott Shoup who has been instrumental providing a vision in step with the execution of a big data strategy that makes this critical agency more readily available and accessible to its constituents and enables FEMA to work smarter through data by providing credible and actionable data on tools to support risk informed decision-making.

The awards will be presented in Tysons, VA on December 18th. More information is available at www.GTSCoalition.eventbrite.com. The Holiday Awards are part of GTSC’s programming to build the community in support of the homeland and national security mission. GTSC works on behalf of its members with the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Justice, Treasury, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.