Larry J. Gooding

Larry J. Gooding serves as a key procurement lead within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Acquisition, supporting the agency’s mission to advance road safety through evidence-based contracting. He manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions centered on engineering services, testing laboratories, and behavioral research initiatives that inform federal motor vehicle safety standards. His work directly enables NHTSA’s regulatory and policy development efforts by securing technical expertise in vehicle safety technologies, fuel efficiency analysis, and public safety campaign evaluation. Gooding routinely handles complex, performance-based contracts requiring rigorous technical evaluation and compliance with federal acquisition regulations. His primary contractor relationships include AMD International Technologies LLC and Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, both of which provide specialized engineering and systems analysis services critical to vehicle safety testing and data modeling. He also collaborates with the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators to support outreach and educational initiatives aligned with behavioral safety research. Gooding’s procurement approach emphasizes long-term technical partnerships with vendors capable of delivering high-integrity, reproducible results under strict federal oversight, often involving multi-year task orders and performance-based service contracts. Gooding’s contracting patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 93.3% of awards issued without set-aside designations. Only 6.7% of acquisitions are structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, indicating a focus on technical capability over socioeconomic preferences. While small business participation is not the primary driver, he maintains compliance with all applicable socioeconomic requirements and occasionally leverages small business vendors when their technical expertise aligns with mission-critical needs. The majority of his procurements fall under NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and 541380 (Testing Laboratories and Services), reflecting deep expertise in vehicle crashworthiness analysis, sensor validation, and safety compliance testing. He also procures research services in social sciences (541720) to evaluate driver behavior and public communication effectiveness, demonstrating a multidisciplinary approach to advancing highway safety through data-driven acquisition strategies.