Clara A. Roberts

Clara A. Roberts serves as Supervisory Contract Specialist at Federal Prison Industries (Unicor), where she oversees the acquisition of goods and services aligned with the agency’s mission to provide vocational training and meaningful employment to incarcerated individuals. In this role, she manages a diverse portfolio of procurement actions under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements while advancing Unicor’s goal of reducing federal procurement costs through inmate-produced goods and services. Her responsibilities include negotiating complex contracts, conducting market research, and ensuring adherence to socioeconomic and labor standards unique to the Department of Justice’s correctional industry program. Roberts maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of long-term contractors, including Veterans Range Solutions, LLC, Krueger International, Inc., Veterans Environmental Group, LLC, Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, and Nightingale Corp. These partnerships reflect a preference for vendors with demonstrated experience in specialized manufacturing, environmental services, and workforce development programs—particularly those serving veterans and individuals with disabilities. Her contracting approach emphasizes reliability, quality control, and alignment with Unicor’s rehabilitative mission, fostering collaborative, performance-based vendor relationships. While the majority of her acquisitions are unrestricted, Roberts consistently supports small business participation, with approximately 30.8% of awards structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. Her procurement patterns reflect a strategic commitment to socioeconomic programs, particularly those that align with Unicor’s workforce development goals, including partnerships with entities serving veterans and individuals with disabilities, though formal 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides are not predominant. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 424110 (printing and writing paper wholesale), 611430 (professional training), 562920 (materials recovery), 541690 (technical consulting), and 541613 (marketing consulting). She specializes in acquiring industrial outputs, workforce development services, and environmental remediation solutions—domains where Unicor’s inmate labor capabilities intersect with federal agency needs.