Edmond Avakem

Edmond Avakem serves as a Supervisory Contracting Officer within the USDA Forest Service, overseeing the acquisition of critical infrastructure and engineering services essential to sustaining the nation’s forest and grassland ecosystems. In this leadership role, he ensures compliance with federal procurement regulations while aligning contract strategies with the agency’s mission to enhance forest health, support wildfire mitigation, and maintain operational resilience in remote terrains. Avakem manages a diverse portfolio of construction and civil engineering contracts, focusing on commercial and institutional building projects as well as heavy civil infrastructure, including trails, access roads, and facility upgrades vital to field operations and public safety. Avakem maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These partnerships reflect a reliance on specialized firms capable of delivering construction, technical staffing, and engineering support services under challenging environmental conditions. His procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting, with a preference for vendors demonstrating proven experience in federal land management environments and the ability to meet stringent safety and environmental compliance standards. Avakem’s contracting portfolio reflects a 100% no set-aside preference, indicating a focus on full and open competition rather than socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs. While small business participation is not formally prioritized in his award patterns, his decisions are guided by technical capability, past performance, and mission-critical delivery timelines rather than socioeconomic criteria. His primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 236220 (Commercial and Institutional Building Construction) and NAICS 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction), reflecting expertise in procuring facilities, access infrastructure, and large-scale civil works projects. Avakem’s technical domain expertise lies in managing complex construction contracts that require coordination with environmental regulators, engineering consultants, and field operations teams to ensure compliance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and forest service standards.