Ken Wickward

Ken Wickward serves as a Civil Engineer with the USDA Forest Service, where he plays a critical role in managing infrastructure acquisitions essential to maintaining forest roadways, bridges, and erosion control systems across remote federal lands. His expertise lies in procuring civil construction services that support ecological resilience, wildfire mitigation, and public safety in rugged terrain. Wickward specializes in engineering-led acquisitions under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, ensuring compliance with technical specifications for heavy civil infrastructure while aligning projects with the Forest Service’s strategic goals for land stewardship and operational readiness. His procurement portfolio is exclusively focused on highway, street, and bridge construction, reflecting the agency’s priority on maintaining access to and within national forests. Wickward maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC, and ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, who provide specialized engineering, construction, and labor support services. His procurement approach favors firms with proven experience in remote-site civil works, emergency infrastructure repair, and environmentally sensitive construction practices. These partnerships are characterized by long-term reliability and technical alignment with Forest Service standards for sustainable infrastructure development. A strong advocate for socioeconomic equity in contracting, Wickward prioritizes HUBZone set-asides in 75% of his acquisitions and consistently utilizes total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a robust commitment to empowering disadvantaged businesses in rural and underserved communities. His contracting patterns reflect a deliberate strategy to channel federal investment into local, small, and historically underutilized firms capable of delivering mission-critical civil works. His technical domain is narrowly focused on NAICS 237310, encompassing the design, construction, and rehabilitation of forest access roads, culverts, retaining structures, and bridge systems. Wickward’s procurements demand adherence to federal environmental regulations, geotechnical standards, and erosion control protocols, underscoring his deep expertise in civil engineering applied to ecological and logistical challenges in wildland environments.