Charles D. Kotch

Charles D. Kotch serves as a key procurement professional within the 693JJ3 Acquisition and Grants Management unit of the Federal Highway Administration, supporting the agency’s mission to enhance the safety, resilience, and innovation of the nation’s highway infrastructure. He manages a diverse portfolio of contracts focused on engineering services, transportation research, and operational consulting, ensuring that technical solutions are grounded in data-driven analysis and federal compliance standards. His work directly enables the procurement of critical services that inform infrastructure design, traffic management systems, and safety enhancements across federal-aid highway programs. Kotch maintains established relationships with high-impact contractors including K & M Transportation Services LLC and the University of California, Los Angeles, reflecting a blend of private-sector engineering expertise and academic research collaboration. His procurement approach emphasizes long-term partnerships with vendors capable of delivering specialized technical support, performance-based consulting, and applied transportation science. These relationships are characterized by consistent recompetition and performance-based evaluations, ensuring accountability and alignment with FHWA’s strategic objectives. Kotch’s contracting activity shows no use of socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a deliberate focus on technical merit and capability over socioeconomic preferences, prioritizing the selection of the most qualified offerors regardless of business size or certification status. While small business participation is not formally incentivized through set-asides, vendors of all sizes compete on equal footing based on technical qualifications and past performance. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and 541618 (Other Management Consulting Services), with additional emphasis on professional training (611430) and computer facilities management (541513). He regularly acquires advanced transportation modeling tools, intelligent transportation system (ITS) integration services, and operational analysis frameworks that support real-time infrastructure decision-making and federal compliance with 23 CFR standards.