Jason Cherico

Jason Cherico serves as a key procurement liaison within the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Agricultural Research Facility Management and Procurement Division, supporting the acquisition of specialized instrumentation and maintenance services critical to high-throughput biological and environmental research. Though holding no formal contracting title, his secondary role is instrumental in facilitating the procurement of precision laboratory equipment, advanced analytical instrumentation, and mission-critical facility maintenance contracts that underpin the agency’s food security and sustainable agriculture research objectives. He consistently engages in complex, technical acquisitions requiring deep domain knowledge of laboratory infrastructure and scientific equipment lifecycle management. Cherico maintains close working relationships with a select group of specialized vendors, including Georgia Commercial and Residential Elevator, LLC; Gold Wave Inc.; GermFree Laboratories, LLC; J’s Associates, LLC; and Millennium Enterprise Corp. These partnerships reflect a pattern of collaboration with niche providers capable of delivering highly technical services such as biosafety cabinet installation, cleanroom maintenance, precision equipment calibration, and facility systems integration. His procurement approach prioritizes vendors with proven expertise in scientific facility operations, emphasizing reliability, compliance, and technical specificity over broad-market suppliers. His procurement activity is fully aligned with small business set-aside preferences, with 100% of contracts awarded under the FAR 19.5 Small Business Set-Aside program. This reflects a deliberate and consistent commitment to empowering small, technically capable firms that bring specialized capabilities to federally funded agricultural research infrastructure. He actively cultivates relationships with small businesses possessing niche certifications and domain-specific experience in scientific facility support. Cherico’s work is concentrated under NAICS 811310, Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance, focusing on the servicing, calibration, and integration of high-value analytical instruments and facility systems essential to agricultural science. His expertise lies in procuring services that ensure the operational integrity of mass spectrometers, chromatography systems, controlled-environment laboratories, and other precision research equipment critical to USDA ARS’s scientific mission.