Karen Ruklic

Karen Ruklic serves as a key procurement professional within the USDA Forest Service, overseeing acquisitions critical to the agency’s mission of sustaining national forest and grassland ecosystems. She manages a diverse portfolio of contracts focused on heavy civil engineering, forestry support services, and infrastructure resilience in remote and rugged terrains. Her work directly supports wildfire mitigation, ecological restoration, and emergency response operations by ensuring timely delivery of specialized construction and technical services. Ruklic’s procurement strategy aligns with the Forest Service’s operational priorities, emphasizing mission-critical capabilities that enhance land management and public safety across federal lands. Ruklic maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These partnerships reflect a blend of engineering, staffing, and technical support firms capable of delivering specialized services in forest health, emergency response, and remote-site infrastructure. Her contracting patterns favor vendors with proven experience in rugged terrain operations, indicating a preference for contractors with field-ready expertise and demonstrated performance in federal environmental and logistical environments. Ruklic demonstrates a strong commitment to socioeconomic contracting, with nearly 90% of her acquisitions set aside for small businesses. HUBZone set-asides account for over 41% of her awards, while total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5 represent nearly half of her portfolio. Her contracting approach actively prioritizes geographic and economic inclusion, consistently channeling opportunities to firms located in historically underserved rural communities. Although service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-asides are minimal, her overall pattern reflects a robust, intentional focus on expanding access for small and disadvantaged businesses. Her procurement focus is dominated by NAICS 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction) and 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), reflecting deep expertise in road and trail construction, erosion control, and forest management support services. She regularly procures surveying, mapping, and specialized forestry operations, underscoring technical proficiency in land-based infrastructure and ecological restoration projects. Her domain expertise centers on mission-critical, field-deployed solutions that ensure operational readiness in challenging environments.