Wellington, FL | Published November 17th, 2005 | by SOT Staff Writer

Source One's Llano was selected to be a member of NASA’s Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee

On November 16, 2005 Mark Llano, a former Marine, received the 2005 Veteran Small Business Champion Award. His business, Source One Distributors Inc., opened in 2003, and supplies NASA, the military, and law-enforcement agencies with gear such as bulletproof vests, night-vision goggles and ballistic helmets.

Mark Llano has been recognized for advancing small-business opportunities for veterans
of the U.S. Armed Forces., Source One Inc. employs 15 people, eight of them
veterans. He received the award for both South Florida and the entire Southeast
Region, which also covers the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi
and Kentucky. “Obviously he’s a veteran himself and he wants to give back, so he
hires veterans,” said Carole Hart, “A lot of his products go back to soldiers in the
field. He knows what the needs are there, and he’s filling those needs. We’re very
proud of him.”

A member of NASA’s Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee, Llano helps
other veterans navigate the maze of contract negotiations and paperwork necessary to become a government contractor and puts on seminars and speaks one-on-one to people just starting out or trying to increase their government presence, he said.