Amelia Rios Velasco

Amelia R. Velasco serves as a Contracting Specialist Trainee within the USDA Forest Service, supporting the agency’s mission to sustain forest and grassland ecosystems through strategic procurement of critical services. In her role, she assists in the full lifecycle management of acquisitions, including solicitation development, contract award, and performance monitoring, with a focus on operational support, ecological restoration, and emergency response capabilities. Her work ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while advancing the agency’s priorities in wildfire mitigation, invasive species control, and infrastructure resilience across remote and rugged terrains. Amelia collaborates closely with a core group of contractors including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC, primarily to secure specialized labor, logistical support, and technical services. Her contracting patterns reflect strong engagement with niche service providers offering workforce solutions, environmental consulting, and on-site operational support tailored to field-based forest management needs. These partnerships are often established through competitive sealed bids and simplified acquisition procedures to meet urgent and mission-critical requirements. A defining feature of Amelia’s procurement approach is her pronounced emphasis on small business participation, with over 90% of her acquisitions structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. She consistently prioritizes socioeconomic programs, with minimal use of non-set-aside or HUBZone and SDVOSB set-asides, demonstrating a strong alignment with federal goals to expand opportunities for small, disadvantaged firms in federal contracting. Her technical focus centers on NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), which dominates her portfolio, followed by landscaping services, environmental consulting, and niche agricultural support such as hay farming. These categories reflect her expertise in procuring field-ready services that sustain forest health, maintain public access infrastructure, and enable ecological recovery efforts across national lands.