Jennifer K Braaten (Contractor)

Jennifer Braaten serves as a key procurement professional within the Department of Veterans Affairs, operating under agency code 36C776, where she manages strategic acquisitions to modernize veteran healthcare infrastructure. Her role centers on planning, soliciting, and awarding contracts for facility construction and engineering projects critical to maintaining safe, functional, and technologically advanced medical facilities nationwide. She specializes in commercial and institutional building construction, overseeing the full lifecycle of capital improvement programs that support clinical expansion, EHR infrastructure upgrades, and facility resilience initiatives. Her acquisitions are mission-critical, ensuring VA medical centers meet current and future healthcare delivery standards through compliant, transparent contracting practices. Braaten maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of experienced contractors, including RWH Capital LLC, Bridger Richard JV LLC, Hurley JV, LLP, Veterans Contracting Group, Inc., and The Trevino Group, Inc. These partnerships reflect a preference for joint ventures and established firms with proven expertise in large-scale healthcare construction and civil engineering. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, rigorous compliance, and long-term vendor reliability, fostering collaborative relationships built on accountability and quality assurance. A strong advocate for socioeconomic equity in federal contracting, Braaten prioritizes Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-asides, which account for 63.6% of her awarded contracts. This deliberate focus aligns with VA’s statutory mandate to support veteran entrepreneurs and reflects a deep commitment to empowering small businesses owned by those who served. Her procurement patterns consistently channel opportunities to SDVOSBs while maintaining compliance with federal socioeconomic program requirements. Her technical domain expertise is anchored in NAICS 236220 (Commercial and Institutional Building Construction), which drives over 90% of her acquisitions. She routinely procures design-build, renovation, and new construction services for medical clinics, administrative buildings, and support facilities, with supplementary work in heavy civil engineering under NAICS 237990. Her work ensures VA facilities are not only structurally sound but also optimized for modern clinical workflows and patient safety standards.