Debra Brinn

Debra K. Brinn serves as the primary contracting lead for the CSA East 13 USDA-FS, overseeing the acquisition of critical infrastructure projects across National Forest System lands. Her role centers on managing full lifecycle procurements for transportation, utility, and public facility construction under the U.S. Forest Service’s mission to enhance operational resilience and public access. She handles complex, high-stakes contracts for heavy civil engineering and specialty trade services, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and environmental stewardship standards. Her portfolio includes projects that require coordination with multiple federal and state agencies to meet safety, sustainability, and accessibility mandates. Brinn maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of experienced contractors including Razor Consulting Solutions, Inc., Laboda Grading Inc., CPM Constructors, Joe Daniels Construction Co., Inc., and Atoah Contracting LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for firms with proven expertise in forest-service-specific construction environments, including remote site logistics, erosion control, and sensitive ecosystem compliance. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, rigorous pre-award evaluations, and post-award oversight to ensure quality and timely delivery in challenging terrain. Her contracting patterns demonstrate an overwhelming commitment to small business participation, with 98.5% of awards structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a strategic emphasis on empowering economically disadvantaged firms and fostering local economic development in rural forest communities. She rarely utilizes open competitions, instead prioritizing socioeconomic programs that expand opportunities for small, minority-owned, and community-based contractors. Brinn’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction) and 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction), with significant activity in specialty trade contracting under 238990 and 238220 for plumbing, HVAC, and structural systems. Her domain expertise includes the design-build and construction-manager-at-risk delivery methods for infrastructure in ecologically sensitive areas, requiring deep technical knowledge of federal environmental review processes and forest service engineering standards.