J. Leisha Rice

J. Leisha Rice serves as a Procurement Officer for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, where she manages the acquisition of critical infrastructure support services and equipment essential to maintaining the state’s transportation network in extreme environmental conditions. Her role is central to executing the agency’s mission of ensuring safe, resilient mobility across Alaska’s remote and challenging terrain. She oversees the full lifecycle of procurement actions—from market research and solicitation development to contract award and administration—focusing primarily on vehicle and equipment procurement, janitorial services for public facilities, and related logistics support. Her work directly enables the operational readiness of highway maintenance crews, airport operations, and winter infrastructure teams. While no specific contractor relationships are currently identified in the procurement records, Rice engages with a broad base of vendors qualified to deliver specialized heavy-duty vehicles, winterization equipment, and facility maintenance services under federal and state procurement regulations. Her contracting approach emphasizes compliance, competitive bidding, and vendor performance accountability, fostering transparent and reliable partnerships with suppliers capable of meeting Alaska’s unique operational demands. Rice’s procurement portfolio reflects a 100% preference for non-set-aside contracts, indicating a focus on open competition rather than socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs. This pattern suggests an operational priority on technical capability, availability of specialized equipment, and rapid response capacity over socioeconomic targeting, consistent with the urgency of maintaining critical infrastructure in isolated regions. Her primary procurement activity centers on NAICS 441110 (New Car Dealers), reflecting a dominant need for specialized automotive and heavy-duty vehicle procurement—including snowplows, dump trucks, and all-terrain vehicles—tailored for Arctic conditions. Secondary activity in NAICS 561720 (Janitorial Services) supports facility maintenance at rest areas, transit hubs, and administrative buildings. Her technical expertise lies in acquiring mission-critical transportation assets with stringent performance, durability, and cold-weather operational requirements.