Jessica Scherl

Jessica Scherl serves as a secondary procurement support professional within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) at the Minneapolis, MN office, contributing to the agency’s mission of safeguarding U.S. agricultural systems from invasive pests and diseases. While not the primary contracting officer, she provides critical administrative and operational support across the acquisition lifecycle—assisting in solicitation development, contract administration, and compliance documentation for scientific, diagnostic, and biosecurity-related procurements. Her role ensures alignment with APHIS’s strategic priorities in laboratory modernization, field surveillance equipment, and biological containment infrastructure, enabling timely execution of mission-critical contracts. Scherl collaborates closely with APHIS scientists, field inspectors, and primary contracting officers to identify and validate vendor capabilities for specialized biological and technical services. Though no primary contractor relationships are publicly designated, her work involves engagement with firms providing diagnostic reagents, mobile laboratory systems, pathogen detection tools, and veterinary biosafety equipment. She facilitates vendor coordination during proposal evaluations and post-award performance monitoring, fostering transparent, compliant interactions between government stakeholders and qualified suppliers. While set-aside data is not available for her portfolio, her support role inherently aligns with APHIS’s broader commitment to socioeconomic contracting, including participation by 8(a), HUBZone, and SDVOSB firms that deliver niche scientific and field support services. Her contributions help ensure equitable access for small and disadvantaged businesses capable of meeting the technical demands of biological threat mitigation. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS categories related to scientific research and development services (541715), laboratory services (541990), and specialized machinery for agricultural biosecurity (333242). She supports the acquisition of advanced diagnostic kits, quarantine containment systems, mobile testing units, and data analytics platforms used in real-time surveillance of animal and plant health threats across national borders.