Hispanic Heritage Month honors Small Business Owners of the NASA Ames Contractor Council
by Renee Mitchell, ACC Chair, Marketing & Communications
Across the agency, NASA was proud to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month – the annual observance honoring the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans – Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
To honor the kickoff of Hispanic Heritage Month, NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson commemorated the celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope, known as "Esperanza" in Spanish.
The Hispanics that support NASA are growing. From engineers and scientists to small business that is the backbone of big business, these innovative and hard working individuals have made significant contributions to the Agency.
The flexibility and ability to change quickly in the middle of rapidly developing technology advancements and engineering innovations is the very heart of America's small business. To engage and support projects and programs for Mission Success is the goal for today and in the future. In fact, these two individuals, as you read on, are making a real impact upon NASA today and tomorrow.
Today, we recognize two outstanding individuals and the companies they have created for their contributions in support of the Agency.
The significant achievements by Denise Navarro, Owner and CEO of Logical Innovations, Inc. and Bob Vermillion, CPP/Fellow, Owner and CEO of RMV Technology Group LLC, a NASA Industry partner are highlighted below.
Denise Navarro, Owner, CEO, Logical Innovations, Inc.
What Denise says in the Youtube video says it all. When asked about her success, she says just one word - "persistence" - what every small business knows and understands for those who have been successful or on the journey to get there.
Logical Innovations, Inc. provides technical, business, and administrative services for almost all NASA centers since 2006. Other Federal agencies include USAID, DOI, DOC, DoD, DHS, DOT and commercial energy.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Logical Innovations has operations in Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Founded and 100% owned by President/CEO Denise Navarro, Logical Innovations specializes in financial and acquisition services, event/exhibits management, strategic communications/outreach, training/education, administrative services, and logistical support.
Logical-R Joint Venture provides Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting services for ARC, as part of the Logical Innovations family of companies.
Most recently, the FY19 NASA Agency Level Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year was achieved. Other awards include the JSC FY2015, AFRC FY2016, FY2017 and FY2019 Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year.
Honored as “One of Houston’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” in 2012 through 2021, Logical Innovations was recognized nationally from 2019 through 2021, plus recognition in the Wall Street Journal.
For its community involvement and focus on education for future generations, Logical Innovations was honored with the University of Houston – Clear Lake (UHCL) 2017 Community Partnership Award and the UHCL 2019 Philanthropy Award.
Active in the Houston area community, Logical Innovations Founder Denise Navarro has served in various leadership capacities with the JSC Small Business Council and participates on small business councils throughout NASA, including support of the NASA HQ Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) initiatives.
Honored as one of the 2021 Top 30 Influential Women of Houston and as a leadHER in STEM, Denise was designated as a SUPERLady by the SUPERGirls SHINE Foundation in 2021, Distinguished Alumna in 2017 by University of Houston – Clear Lake (UHCL), Entrepreneurial Lifetime Achievement Award by the Houston Technology Center in 2017, named 2016 Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration - Houston District, and Distinguished 2016 Alumna by the College of the Mainland (COM).
Bob Vermillion, Owner, CEO, RMV Technology Group LLC
RMV Technology Group LLC , a NASA Industry Partner, is a high technology electrostatics (ESD) engineering, SDVOSB, Hispanic owned, SDVOSB small business located onsite at NASA ARC since 2009.
Founded and owned by Bob Vermillion, RMV Technology Group LLC provides high technology engineering, training, testing and consulting services for most NASA Centers across the Agency. Other clients include the MDA, DoD, DLA and the DOE. Commercial customers include the Fortune 100 consumer electronics, medical device, biotechnology and pharmaceutical drug delivery sectors.
RMV provides unique educational ESD training services for the Agency and support contractors, including specialized ESD engineering services in support of the Agency. Other core capabilities include the largest and most advanced Electrostatics (ESD) test laboratory on a NASA Site. RMV qualifies ESD Products, Materials & Packaging including engineered materials (CNTs, 3D Materials, advanced polymers for Space & Defense) for NASA, DoD Primes and Commercial electronics. Moreover, RMV is working with AFRC on the X57.
In response to the 2020 shutdown, Bob Vermillion created a Virtual "Live" ESD Training program for the NASA ESD Program Managers across the Agency to replace the Onsite ESD Hands On program held every two years onsite.
In an exclusive partnership with Exemplar Global, a member of the ASQ family of companies, RMV offers the unique training course for NASA civil servants and support contractors with the international 3rd party certification for professional development. A Digital badge is also provided for individual achievement and networking for recognition among one's peers and management.
In a special Virtual TEAMS meeting, a "Certificate of Excellence" award was presented by the Agency ESD Working Group (IAWG) to Bob Vermillion for the development and delivery of this highly successful virtual training platform. Distinguished Virtual Guests included the Associate Administrator for the NASA Office of Small Business (OSBP), the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Associate Director of Engineering and the Executive Director, Veteran Business Outreach Center (VBOC) Small Business Administration Region IX, Sacramento, CA.
Bob Vermillion's accomplishments over the years are many and exemplary.
Recipient of the 2019 Military Packaging Hall of Fame, named the NASA ESD Technical Authority on 30 March 2018, Founder of the iNARTE® Certified ESD Aerospace & Defense Engineer/ Technician™ Training program and iNARTE® Certified Space & Defense ESD Program Monitor Certification Programs, 2018 James A. Russell Lifetime Achievement Award for Packaging Engineering Innovation for the Protection of the WarFighter, 2017 California Department of General Services & SBA Region IX Veterans Business Outreach Center Award for Veteran Champion of the Year Award, SAE G-19 Chair & Founder of the Packaging EEE Subgroup on Suspect Counterfeits (since 2015), the 1st to Present on Suspect Counterfeit ESD Packaging & Materials Infiltrating the Aerospace Supply Chain by Invitation of JPL for the NASA QLF March 2010, the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) Induction into the 2007 College of Fellows, IoPP 2002 AmeriStar Award for the Top Packaging Design in the USA for the Electronics Category, NASA Mars Mission Approved Material Development 1999 to name a few of the top awards for excellence by Industry and Government.
But most important of all, as stated by the Associate Director of the NASA OSBP, is the Eagle Scout certificate hanging on the wall near the door in a very obscure location. That was a surprise but not a surprise to me.
The NASA astronauts are proud of their Eagle Scout badge. So is Bob Vermillion for his Eagle and Hispanic heritage!
