North Wind, Inc.

A team led by an Idaho Falls, based environmental services company, North Wind Inc., announced it had been selected by the U.S. Coast Guard as the sole recipient of an $8M contract for environmental remediation of hazardous waste sites at the Coast Guard’s Kodiak Island, Alaska facility.

Under the terms of the  five-year contract the North Wind team will provide investigations, interim actions, removal actions, short-term operation and maintenance, facility management services, and any other action incident to site remediation.  The contract, which was awarded by the U.S. Coast Guard Facilities Design and Construction Center Pacific, is primarily for work at Kodiak Island, but can also include other sites in Alaska, as well as nine other western states: Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Arizona, Nevada, Montana and Utah.

“We are delighted the Coast Guard selected our team for this very important work,” said Sylvia Medina, president of North Wind, Inc.  “Not only is this North Wind’s first contract with the Coast Guard, but it also represents our first contract with the Department of Homeland Security, to which the Coast Guard is attached.”

The other members of the team are Weldin Construction, Inc., who will provide tank installation, tank removal /decommissioning, and tank tightness testing services, and DMC Technologies, Inc. who specialize in PCB-contaminated and petroleum soil treatment processes.

North Wind, Inc. was recently honored as the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 2008 Region X Subcontractor of the Year.  North Wind President, Sylvia Medina received the award at a ceremony held in Washington DC on April 23, as part of National Small Business Week.  The Small Business Subcontractor of the Year award honors a small business that has provided the government and industry with outstanding goods and services as a subcontractor.

Steven C. Preston, SBA Administrator told Medina in his announcement letter, “your hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to your community have made you a success in your business.  The U.S. SBA is pleased to be able to recognize you for these achievements.  As President Bush has said, “America’s small businesses are the engine that drives our economy. You can be proud of the role you are playing in our Nation’s robust economic growth.”

In addition to being honored as the SBA Region X 2008 Subcontractor of the year, North Wind President, Sylvia Medina received an invitation from the President’s Office to join other award winners at the East Room of the White House to hear President Bush discuss the importance of small businesses in our country. BBWI President Jeff Mousseau, who nominated North Wind for the award, attended the event as Medina’s guest.   “I was honored to be invited to the White House to hear President Bush’s speech honoring small business owners.” Medina said.  “I felt that the president was talking directly to me when he said, ‘Owning a small business is hard.  It’s not an easy experience. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to meet a lot of small business owners during my time as, first governor of Texas, and then President of the country.  And you’ll be amazed at how many times people have said, well, you know, it all started around the kitchen table.’”  “When the president made that statement I was thinking, oh-my-gosh, my kitchen table served as the first North Wind office.”

On Saturday, April 26 several employees from the North Wind Los Alamos office teamed with their client from the Los Alamos National Laboratory Environmental Protection Division to man a booth at the Community Earth Day Celebration.  The all-day event was put on by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and consisted of guided nature walks, environmental talks, trail work parties, entertainment for the kids, face painting, food, and booths from various community organizations.  In addition to helping with the booth, North Wind was a corporate sponsor for the event.  Over 1,000 people attended the celebration to learn more about environmental issues and celebrate nature in Los Alamos.  Shown in the picture is Dave Paulson (LANL), Margie Stockton, Melanie Hopper and Pete Maggiore.