California Department of Corporations Honored for Work with Disabled Veteran Enterprises and Small Businesses

The Business Operations Section and Laurie Cootz received State Agency Recognition Awards from the Department of General Services

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Sacramento, November 16, 2012 — The Department of Corporations received two awards at the 13th Annual
State Agency Recognition Awards (SARA) ceremony. The Department won Honorable Mention for the SARA
Award and Laurie Cootz won the Silver Award for Advocate of the Year.

The SARA Awards are sponsored by the California Department of General Services to recognize outstanding
achievements in Small Business (SB) and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) advocacy and for
contracting success with SBs and DVBEs.

The Department was honored for the work of the Business Operations Section (BOS) staff that performs the dayday
purchasing ensure the Department meets the SB and DVBE goals in each of the last eleven years. BOS staff includes

Julie Solomon, Kelly Moynahan, Jennifer Wisnewski, Chad Rohrs, Hyunmee Peters, Bill Hayden,
Pamela Mosby, Edna Carrasco, Laurie Cootz and Fred Topete.

Laurie Cootz was presented with the individual silver award for her sustained efforts to assist DVBE and SB
businesses. For example, Ms. Cootz crafted and marketed materials to show businesses how to apply for and
become certified as DVBE and SB vendors.

“We are very proud to be honored for the work that our Business Support Section does,” said Corporations
Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen. “The Department is committed to the goals of outreach and inclusion for Small
Businesses and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises and is pleased to be recognized by our peers.”

The awards were presented at a ceremony on Wednesday, November 14, at the Citrus Heights Community
Center. The Department of General Services presented awards to 41 state agencies and 17 state employees for
their outstanding work with California small businesses and disabled veterans’ businesses.

Annually, state agencies work to meet a goal of doing at least 25 percent of purchasing and contracting with small
businesses. Furthermore, California’s Veterans and Military Code’s goal is to purchase at least three percent of all
goods and services from Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises (DVBE).

The Department of Corporations is California’s investment and financing authority. Consumers should contact the Department to check on
the status of the companies, investments or other services they are considering and the licensing status of individuals at the Department’s
toll-free Consumer Services Office at 1-866-ASK-CORP (1-866-275-2677) or at www.corp.ca.gov

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