Barbara Falero

Barbara Falero serves as a key procurement lead for Base Ketchikan (70Z035), supporting the U.S. Coast Guard’s operational readiness in Alaska’s remote maritime environment. She manages acquisitions critical to sustaining shore-based infrastructure, vessel maintenance systems, and environmental compliance assets essential for search and rescue, law enforcement, and homeland security missions. Her procurement portfolio centers on shipbuilding and repair services, with a strong emphasis on maintaining aging maritime infrastructure under challenging climatic conditions. Falero ensures that acquisitions align with Coast Guard standards for safety, durability, and regulatory compliance, often coordinating with technical engineers and environmental specialists to define performance requirements for complex maritime systems. Her contractor relationships are primarily with small businesses specializing in ship repair, marine mechanical systems, and industrial equipment maintenance. While no single vendor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages with firms possessing maritime expertise, particularly those certified under small business programs. Her contracting approach favors long-term, performance-based partnerships that ensure reliability in austere conditions, often requiring vendors to demonstrate proven experience with Coast Guard vessel classes and Alaskan operational constraints. Falero exhibits a pronounced commitment to small business participation, with 73.4% of her acquisitions set aside for small businesses under FAR 19.5. This reflects a strategic emphasis on fostering local and regional economic resilience in Alaska, prioritizing HUBZone, 8(a), and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses with relevant technical capabilities. Her socioeconomic contracting patterns are intentionally designed to build capacity among Alaska-based vendors capable of supporting the Coast Guard’s unique logistical and environmental demands. Her primary procurement focus is NAICS 336611 (Ship Building and Repairing), accounting for over 86% of her activity. She routinely procures dry dock services, hull and propulsion system overhauls, marine electrical upgrades, and structural metal fabrication for piers and mooring systems. Her technical domain expertise lies in maritime industrial maintenance, with deep familiarity in Coast Guard vessel classes, corrosion control protocols, and Alaska-specific environmental regulations governing marine operations.