Air Force captures five Nunn-Perry awards Published March 13, 2006 SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Five Air Force company teams captured Nunn-Perry awards at the annual Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé conference in Atlanta on March 8. The awards recognize efforts by DOD prime contractors (mentors) and their protégé small businesses to advance the protégé company as a competitive partner in the defense contracting business. The Air Force mentor-protégé winners are: 1.) Northrop Grumman Space Technology, Redondo Beach, Calif., and KW Microwave, Carlsbad, Calif. 2.) Raytheon Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kan., and Product Manufacturing, Wichita, Kan. 3.) AMEC Earth and Environmental, Chantilly, Va., and Echota Technologies, Maryville, Tenn. 4.) The Boeing Company Integrated Defense Systems, St. Louis, and Precision Machine and Manufacturing, Grove, Okla. 5.) Earth Tech, Inc., Richmond, Va., and ETI Professionals, Inc., Lakewood, Colo. "These Mentor-Protégé teams are winning teams for America,” said Joseph G. Diamond, director of Air Force Small Business Programs, “They contribute so much to both our nation and the U.S. Air Force. The prime contractors make an investment to grow small businesses, which are the economic backbone of America. The result is a strengthened industrial base and sustainment of Air Force warfighting capabilities.” The Air Force Mentor-Protégé Program had an average return on investment of 21 to one in fiscal year 2005, and generated a total job growth of 57 percent. The program seeks to encourage prime contractors (mentors) to develop the technical and business capabilities of small businesses. Awards are determined by the successes of the mentor-protégé team in achieving cost efficiencies, enhancing the protégé’s technical capabilities, and increasing new business opportunities for prime contracts and subcontracts. The award, which is named in recognition of former Sen. Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, was first presented in 1995.