Kelli Richards

Kelli Richards serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Western Zone of the U.S. Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture, where she manages procurement activities critical to sustaining national forest infrastructure and ecological resilience. Her role involves executing full-cycle acquisitions for goods and services that support wildfire risk reduction, trail and road maintenance, habitat restoration, and facility operations. She ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning purchases with the agency’s mission of sustainable land stewardship and public safety. Kelli typically handles non-construction supplies, specialized equipment, and technical services essential to field operations and resource management. While specific contractor relationships are not currently documented in the procurement record, Kelli engages with a diverse vendor base that includes both large-capacity suppliers and small businesses capable of delivering niche, mission-critical items. Her procurement approach emphasizes reliability, regulatory adherence, and responsiveness to operational needs across remote and ecologically sensitive terrains. She fosters partnerships with vendors who demonstrate capacity for timely delivery, environmental compliance, and technical expertise in forestry-supporting technologies. Kelli maintains a balanced procurement strategy with equal emphasis on open competitions and Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, reflecting a strong institutional commitment to small business inclusion. She consistently prioritizes small business participation without favoring specific socioeconomic categories such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB, instead focusing on capability and capacity to meet operational demands. This approach supports broad-based economic opportunity while ensuring mission readiness. Her primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 326121 (Unlaminated Plastics Profile Shape Manufacturing) and NAICS 531320 (Offices of Real Estate Appraisers), indicating specialized needs for custom plastic components used in signage, erosion control, and trail infrastructure, alongside real estate appraisal services for land acquisition, easement management, and boundary delineation. Kelli’s expertise lies in procuring technical, non-standardized goods and services that support the unique logistical and environmental constraints of federal forest land management.