Karen Onesti

Karen Onesti serves as a Building Management Specialist within the Public Buildings Service’s R2 Capital Construction Branch, where she plays a critical role in managing the acquisition lifecycle for federal facility construction and renovation projects. Her responsibilities include planning, soliciting, and administering contracts for the design and construction of courthouses, federal office complexes, and port of entry facilities. She ensures compliance with federal building standards, lifecycle sustainability goals, and resilience requirements, aligning procurement activities with the agency’s mission to modernize and maintain mission-critical infrastructure for the U.S. government. Onesti maintains a consistent working relationship with McKenzie Construction & Site Development LLC, a primary contractor for commercial and institutional building projects. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term vendor collaboration, leveraging the contractor’s expertise in complex federal construction environments. She engages with contractors through competitive sealed bidding and performance-based contract structures, prioritizing quality, schedule adherence, and safety compliance in all project deliveries. Her contracting activity is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic focus on maximizing technical capability and value through broad market engagement rather than socioeconomic set-asides. While small business participation is not formally prioritized in her portfolio, all procurements remain compliant with federal acquisition regulations and competitive fairness standards. Onesti’s procurement focus is exclusively centered on NAICS 236220—Commercial and Institutional Building Construction. She specializes in acquiring services related to new construction, major renovations, and infrastructure upgrades for federal buildings, including structural, mechanical, and electrical systems integration. Her domain expertise lies in managing projects that meet stringent federal design standards, energy efficiency mandates, and security protocols for high-visibility government facilities.