Catherine Duffey

Catherine Duffey serves as a Contract Specialist at the Federal Medical Center Devens, part of the Bureau of Prisons within the Department of Justice, where she manages the acquisition of critical food service and facility support contracts essential to inmate health and safety. Her role centers on ensuring compliance with federal procurement regulations while delivering nutritionally adequate, safe, and consistent dietary services in a secure correctional environment. She routinely handles complex solicitations under FAR Part 12 and Part 13, focusing on requirements for institutional food production, storage, and distribution systems, as well as related maintenance and operational services. Duffey collaborates with a diverse pool of vendors, primarily specializing in institutional food manufacturing and facility maintenance contractors. Her procurement activities involve working closely with suppliers of ready-to-serve meals, dietary supplements, and food packaging solutions, as well as plumbing, heating, and HVAC service providers who support the facility’s infrastructure. She maintains professional, compliance-driven relationships with both large-capacity providers and small business subcontractors, emphasizing transparency, performance accountability, and adherence to USDA and BOP nutritional standards. A strong advocate for small business participation, Duffey consistently prioritizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with nearly 43% of her acquisitions reserved for small businesses. While no specific socioeconomic categories dominate her portfolio, her contracting patterns reflect a deliberate effort to expand opportunities for small, qualified vendors capable of meeting the stringent quality and security requirements of federal correctional food service operations. Her primary technical focus lies in NAICS 311999, encompassing all other miscellaneous food manufacturing, which accounts for nearly 90% of her acquisitions. She also manages targeted procurements under NAICS 238220 for facility maintenance services. Duffey’s expertise centers on institutional food systems, dietary compliance, and the integration of food safety protocols into federal procurement practices, ensuring that every contract supports the mission of safe, humane, and medically sound incarceration.