Clara A. Roberts

Clara A. Roberts serves as a Supervisory Contract Specialist at Federal Prison Industries (Unicor), where she oversees the acquisition of goods and services critical to the agency’s mission of providing vocational training and meaningful employment to incarcerated individuals. In this leadership role, she manages the full lifecycle of federal procurement actions, ensuring compliance with FAR regulations while aligning acquisitions with Unicor’s operational needs and rehabilitation goals. Her portfolio includes high-volume, mission-critical contracts for manufactured products, environmental services, and industrial supplies, often requiring specialized manufacturing capabilities and secure facility logistics. Roberts maintains strong, long-term relationships with key 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 experience in institutional supply chains, disability employment models, and federally compliant manufacturing processes. Her contracting approach emphasizes reliability, scalability, and alignment with Unicor’s unique workforce structure, fostering collaborative vendor engagement grounded in performance accountability and mission synergy. Her procurement strategy reflects a balanced commitment to socioeconomic goals, with 43.1% of awards designated as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating consistent support for small business participation. While no single socioeconomic category dominates, her portfolio routinely includes awards to small disadvantaged businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and other certified entities, reflecting a deliberate effort to broaden supplier diversity while maintaining operational efficiency. Roberts specializes in procurement under NAICS codes 311119 (Other Animal Food Manufacturing), 333244 (Industrial Machinery Manufacturing), 562920 (Materials Recovery Facilities), 424110 (Printing and Writing Paper Merchant Wholesalers), and 331315 (Aluminum Sheet, Plate, and Foil Manufacturing). Her technical expertise spans institutional-grade product sourcing, waste recovery systems, paper and packaging supply chains, and metal fabrication, enabling her to effectively evaluate technical proposals and ensure compliance with federal quality and safety standards.