Aaron Mercer

Aaron Mercer serves as a key procurement lead for the City of Umatilla, overseeing the acquisition of critical public infrastructure assets essential to community safety and utility resilience. In his role, he manages the full lifecycle of contracting activities for water, sewer, and municipal construction projects, ensuring compliance with state and federal procurement regulations. His responsibilities include soliciting bids, evaluating technical proposals, and awarding contracts for capital improvement initiatives aligned with the city’s strategic infrastructure modernization goals. Mercer primarily handles construction and utility-related procurements, with a focus on delivering long-term public value through transparent, competitive processes. Mercer maintains a broad vendor engagement strategy, working with a diverse pool of contractors specializing in civil works and municipal construction. While no single contractor dominates his portfolio, he consistently engages firms with proven experience in water and sewer line installation, sewage treatment facility construction, and commercial institutional building projects. His procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting, requiring detailed project execution plans, quality assurance protocols, and adherence to environmental and safety standards. Vendor relationships are built on technical competency, past performance, and capacity to deliver complex infrastructure solutions under tight municipal timelines. Mercer’s contracting patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of awards issued under the “No Set-Aside” category. He does not currently prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, instead focusing on merit-based selection grounded in technical capability and cost-effectiveness. This approach ensures access to the broadest possible pool of qualified contractors while maintaining fiscal accountability and project integrity. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 221320 (Sewage Treatment Facilities) and 237110 (Water and Sewer Line Construction), each accounting for 40% of his portfolio, with an additional 20% directed toward NAICS 236220 (Commercial and Institutional Building Construction). Mercer specializes in procuring engineered solutions for aging utility systems, including pipeline rehabilitation, pump station upgrades, and public facility modernizations, demonstrating deep expertise in civil infrastructure procurement and public works project delivery.