Press Releases

North Wind and WESTON Enter SBA Mentor Protégé Agreement

IDAHO FALLS, ID AND WEST CHESTER, PA – September 3, 2003 – In response to their Federal customers’ efforts to increase the level of participation by small businesses in government contracting, North Wind, Inc. and Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON^®) have entered into a Small Business Administration (SBA) Mentor Protégé Agreement. North Wind is a small business leader in the environmental industry, while WESTON is a premier environmental remediation and redevelopment company.

North Wind and WESTON are excited about this Mentor Protégé Agreement as it provides a unique vehicle to offer federal customers the combined resources, financing, and business systems of both companies while having the ability to operate as a single small business entity. According to Sylvia Medina, President of North Wind, the power of this relationship supplies a strong capability to perform large, complex environmental projects and programs.  

“North Wind has established a solid reputation for quality performance, technical innovation, and outstanding professional service,” said Medina.  “We are fortunate to have WESTON as our mentor to take us to the next level.”    

Pat McCann, WESTON President and CEO added, "WESTON and North Wind share complementary capabilities and a common vision for quality, integrity, and success. We’ve worked well together on numerous projects, so we’re thrilled to formalize our relationship under this Mentor Protégé agreement to jointly provide greater support to our customers.”

The intent of the SBA’s Mentor Protégé Program is to enhance and strengthen the capabilities of the small business protégé through mentoring activities to improve its opportunities to successfully compete for various government contracts, and ultimately transition into larger prime contracting opportunities. This Mentor Protégé Agreement is a valuable tool in support of President Bush’s small business initiatives and the vision to stimulate economic development through increased small business utilization. 

North Wind, a woman-owned small disadvantaged 8(a) business, is headquartered in Idaho Falls, ID with 15 offices across the United States, serving major federal customers including the Departments of Energy (DOE), Defense (DoD), and Interior as well as commercial clients. With a staff of over 200 scientific, engineering and technical personnel, North Wind offers capabilities and experience in environmental remediation and engineering, waste management, regulatory compliance, reclamation and civil construction, cultural and natural resources, and geographic information systems. 

Weston Solutions, Inc. is an environmental remediation and redevelopment firm headquartered in West Chester, PA with over 60 offices worldwide. WESTON delivers comprehensive solutions to complex problems for industry and government worldwide, with major operations supporting the DoE, DoD, and the Environmental Protection Agency. In July of this year, Engineering News-Record rated WESTON as the 2nd largest “all-environmental” firm in the United States, in its annual survey of top architectural, engineering and construction firms. WESTON was also honored to receive the Liberty Mutual Gold award for having an OSHA recordable incidence rate 80% better than the industry average in addition to maintaining its “best in class” EMR rate of 0.53.  WESTON previously received the SBA Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence and the DoD Nunn-Perry Award for its Mentor-Protégé accomplishments.

North Wind and WESTON are dynamic partners delivering environmental excellence and are looking forward to working together to further develop and expand North Wind’s depth and experience for greater support to Federal clients across the nation.