Karen Y Knowles

Karen Y. Knowles serves as a Contract Specialist within the Department of the Air Force’s FA4484 87 Cons Pk organization, where she plays a pivotal role in executing mission-critical acquisitions to sustain air base infrastructure and operational readiness. Her responsibilities include managing the full lifecycle of contracts for facility maintenance, construction support, and technical services essential to maintaining high-readiness environments for aircraft and personnel. She routinely handles complex procurements under FAR Part 12 and Part 36, focusing on service-based contracts that ensure compliance with environmental, safety, and architectural standards. Her work directly supports the Air Force’s priorities in facility modernization, HVAC systems, and infrastructure resilience. Knowles maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of contractors including PAETZOLD CONSTRUCTION CO INC, SEQUOIA CONSTRUCTION INCORPORATED, RANCO CONSTRUCTION INC, THE PASSANANTE GROUP, LLC, and XENTURIS LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for experienced, vertically integrated firms capable of delivering integrated construction, maintenance, and facility services under tight operational timelines. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting and clear deliverables tied to mission-critical outcomes, fostering long-term vendor collaboration grounded in reliability and regulatory compliance. A defining feature of Knowles’ contracting portfolio is her strong commitment to small business participation, with 83.1% of her awards structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to maximize economic opportunity for small businesses, particularly those certified under socioeconomic programs, while ensuring competitive, high-quality service delivery. Her consistent use of set-asides underscores a proactive alignment with DoD and federal small business goals. Her primary procurement focus centers on NAICS codes 488119 (Other Airport Operations), 561730 (Landscaping Services), 811219 (Other Personal Services), and 811310 (Commercial and Industrial Machinery Repair), with additional activity in 333414 (Heating Equipment Manufacturing). These reflect a technical specialization in airfield support services, facility upkeep, and mechanical systems maintenance, demonstrating deep domain expertise in sustaining military installation infrastructure.