The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, has received the 2010 Col. Richard Gridley Award of Excellence for contributions to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.

Four of MVD’s six districts, including the one in Vicksburg, placed in the top 10 of all districts for awarding the highest percentage of dollars to the Corps’ Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program. The other districts receiving awards are St. Louis, Mo., St. Paul, Minn., and Rock Island, Ill.

The MVD awarded $900 million in contracts to businesses owned by service-disabled veterans — 3.6 percent of all of its contracts, which beat the 3 percent goal set by the Department of the Army for 2010.

The Vicksburg District of the MVD encompasses 68,000 square miles in three states and has a $220-million annual water resources program.