Seventeen RI companies nominated for 2017 Secretary of Defense Freedom Award

WARWICK – Aspen Aerogels and National Grid are among 30 finalists for the Secretary of Defense Freedom Award, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve announced Monday.

Aspen Aerogels is based in East Providence. National Grid PLC’s Providence office was nominated.

Companies are chosen from a selection of thousands of employers nationwide. The R.I. State Police also were considered in the semifinal round of 150 employers. Seventeen Rhode Island companies in total were nominated this year.

According to the ESGR, the award is the highest recognition given by the Defense Department to employers for their support for the National Guard and Reserve members. Companies are nominated by a serviceman or woman.

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Other companies nominated for the award this year include Rhode Island Hospital, Alashan Cashmere, Coventry Police Department, Lincoln Police Department, RC Metalworks, International Game Technology PLC, Mearthane Products Corp., Operation Stand Down RI, FM Global, Social Security Administration, JH Lynch & Sons, Millward Brown Digital KANTAR, NAVFAC Midiant and Orbana Law Offices P.C.

The ceremony, the Freedom Award Dinner 2017, will be held May 16 at Warwick Country Club, 394 Narragansett Bay Ave. at 6 p.m. More on the event is located on the Freedom Award Dinner website.

U.S. Sen. John McCain will be honored at the event as well as the Ladies in White, an opposition movement founded in Cuba in 2003 that protests the imprisonment of political dissidents.

Chris Bergenheim is a PBN staff writer.