The nomination of Geocent, LLC for the 2013 Tibbetts award is based on how a truly innovative Louisiana company was able to use technology, developed via their Phase One SBIR, to help solve a critical problem during the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Geocent, LLC is a small business headquartered in Metairie, LA and have offices in New Baton Rouge, LA; Charleston, SC; Huntsville, AL; New Orleans, LA; and the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center, in Mississippi. Established in 1992, the company provides innovative IT solutions that impact the bottom line performance of its clients in business, government, and the scientific communities. Services include the engineering of custom software, data integration, IT contracting/outsourcing, network engineering, enterprise storage and security systems. Clients include government (primarily aerospace and defense), homeland security, social services; and commercial industries such as oil and gas exploration, marine transportation, and healthcare. Geocent was identified as one of the fastest growing in 2012 by Inc. Magazine and today the company employs more than 200 personnel with continued growth even in the midst of a poor economic environment.

Specific clients of Geocent include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Veterans Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Louisiana, the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO), Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC), and the National Air and Space Administration (NASA). Geocent maintains strong partnerships with major vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Citrix, and Novell. Geocent is a Microsoft Gold Partner and is one of only two Managed Microsoft partners in Louisiana.
Geocent, LLC is a strong advocate of the SBIR Program, having leveraged their SBIR research/development to solve mission-critical needs at federal agencies, while generating opportunities for the company to expand and build credibility. They have submitted over a dozen SBIR proposals since the inception of the company and to date have won four awards from the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including a Phase Two award. It’s DHS SBIR Phase I led to current Phase III sole source justification with the U.S. Navy.

Utilizing SBIR, Geocent, LLC has provided both state and federal agencies with much needed first response, emergency preparedness and disaster coordination tools and solutions to challenging problems. They have provided critical technology in assisting with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill response, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Louisiana and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The benefits are a faster response time, and more informed rescue/recovery to protect the public.