Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) is sponsoring “Thriving in a Changing Market: Adaptability and Innovation” on May 29. It is ideal for businesses and individuals, including local startups and investors.
“The SRNS Small Business Fair is basically designed to foster connections between small businesses, whether veteran-owned, women-owned, or disadvantaged,” Rachel Boyd, Advocate for SRNS Small Business Program, explained for ABD. “The fair is going to help support many of the government’s small business goals by promoting awareness for upcoming contract opportunities, offering guidance on how to do business with SRS, and facilitating direct engagement between the suppliers and the buyers.”
Businesses interested in participating must be registered to do business with the federal government.
“One of the ways to do that is through a certification on a website called www.sam.gov, said David Dietz, Senior Director for Procurement. “Small businesses that haven’t done the certification, have a lot of headaches. The key thing is, are they certified or self-certified in the federal system?”
The U.S. General Services Administration maintains the System for Award Management (SAM) website. Businesses can register to do business with the federal government, update, renew, or check the status of the company’s registration, and search registration records and assistance listings. There is no charge to use the website.
There is time for any business not certified, but interested in attending, to begin the registration process.
Although this event is to help small businesses learn about opportunities with SRNS, it is also a chance to network and for community engagement.
“While the small businesses are invited to set up tables to highlight their business, we would also like to open the invitation up to any local buyers or small business departments in all of our local companies to come and meet these small businesses,” said Lisa Tanner, Senior Manager of Supply Chain Excellence.
She said one of the goals at SRNS is to advocate for the small business community, adding,
“So, we often sponsor events such as this one, so that we give small businesses the opportunity to meet, to grow their business, and to meet buyers, whether they’re SRNS buyers or from other local businesses.”
The Savannah River Site is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. President Harry Truman announced in 1950 that the U.S. was accelerating its atomic energy program, and the site along the Savannah River was selected, and construction began.
Tanner said the site has been committed to the small business community since its inception. This event is the latest step to preserve that legacy.
“There’s a tremendous legacy here on site, the importance of supporting small businesses and the contributions that small businesses make to local economies,” she said. “We get a great amount of support from our community, and we want to return that. One way we do that is by supporting small businesses.”
The 2025 Small Business Fair will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Augusta at 2651 Perimeter Pkwy. It will be from 1 – 3 p.m.
For more information, contact Rachel Boyd at rachel.boyd@srs.gov or Jana Chavous at jana.chavous@srs.gov.
