NCARF Weekly E-News

Performance Excellence in Government Contracts Award

This award recognizes and encourages excellence in AbilityOne contract performance and serves as an example to other nonprofit agencies (NPAs.)

Eastern Carolina Vocational Center
Greenville, NC

The Eastern Carolina Vocational Center (ECVC) epitomizes superior customer service, quality, accuracy and consistency in the manufacture of products via the AbilityOne Program. It also is an exceptional case study of establishing and continuously growing decades-long business relationships between Nonprofit Agencies (NPAs) and their federal customers.

ECVC obtained its first AbilityOne Program contract back in 1975 for the manufacture and distribution of picture/certificate frames for the General Services Administration (GSA). Six years later, ECVC began manufacturing and distributing battery terminal connectors (lugs) for use in military tactical vehicles for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Thirty-five and 29 years later respectively, the GSA and DLA remain ECVC clients. Furthermore, the NPA has grown to include many additional AbilityOne contracts with an estimated annual value of $30 million. Collectively, the ECVC contracts currently employ 94 people with severe disabilities.

ECVC has attained a high level of customer satisfaction while accomplishing its main mission to provide job opportunities for persons with disabilities. As of October 2009, 87 percent of the NPA's direct labor work force was comprised of AbilityOne employees. "When we provide a high level of service, we are demonstrating that people with disabilities can excel in government contracting," said Bob Jones, ECVC's executive vice president. "When ECVC excels, we believe it helps other NPAs to obtain AbilityOne contracts. When one organization does a good job, it reflects on all [similar] organizations."

One of ECVC's top strategies for maintaining customer relationships is a keen focus on keeping up with the federal government's evolving standards and technologies. The company maintains shipping, order accuracy and stock requirements for all of its products. Today it is the largest supplier of mission critical battery products. In 2009, ECVC AbilityOne employees packed 37.3 million batteries and oversaw their distribution to more than 2,000 military destinations.

The organization's executive management is constantly looking for new ways to improve products and services. For example, four years ago ECVC purchased and renovated an industrial building for the relocation of the agency's production and administrative offices. The new space provided an improved layout that made the workflow between production and administrative services much more efficient. "We may get new and better equipment, but we always focus on the job that will be created for a person with a disability when we implement any improvement," said Ellen Jackson, ECVC's Director of Customer Care.

In addition to this year's NISH Performance Excellence Award, ECVC has received numerous accolades for the quality of its products and services over the years. It won the DLA's Supplier of the Year Award three times during the past decade. For sixteen consecutive years, ECVC received the Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR) Gold Medal Award designating it as one of the best government suppliers. These achievements exemplify overall excellence in superior product quality, superior customer service, reliability, dependability, consistency, and accuracy. Each year, two AbilityOne employees join ECVC managers to personally receive the award. "In recent years we have been the only company to receive a standing ovation from hundreds of government contractors in attendance," said Dan Le Roux, president of ECVC. "I think it [the award] has really heightened appreciation for the AbilityOne Program throughout the Defense Department."