Laura B. Cherryholmes

Laura B. Cherryholmes serves as a key procurement professional within the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), supporting the agency’s mission to deliver secure, audit-ready financial management and accounting services across the Department of Defense. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on professional services, technical support, and mission-critical infrastructure, ensuring compliance with federal contracting regulations and alignment with DFAS’s strategic priorities in financial modernization and automation. Her work directly enables the agency’s operational readiness by securing essential services that sustain financial integrity and system resilience. Cherryholmes maintains consistent working relationships with a range of contractors, including Soderberg Company Inc., Ecology Mir Group LLC, Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., and Roche Diagnostics Corporation Indianapolis. Her procurement patterns reflect collaboration with specialized firms in translation, environmental compliance, financial data analytics, and technical support services. These partnerships are characterized by recurring engagements that emphasize reliability, regulatory adherence, and domain-specific expertise, particularly in areas requiring high levels of confidentiality and precision. A strong advocate for socioeconomic contracting, Cherryholmes prioritizes small business participation, with over 53% of her awards designated as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. She also regularly awards contracts to women-owned small businesses, demonstrating a deliberate commitment to broadening vendor diversity. Her contracting approach aligns with DFAS’s mandate to foster equitable access while maintaining performance standards across mission-critical functions. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541930 (Translation and Interpretation Services), reflecting a significant need for multilingual support in global financial operations, followed by 238220 (Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors) for facility sustainment and 541611 (Management Consulting) for process optimization. She routinely procures technical services that enhance audit readiness, automate compliance workflows, and support the secure deployment of financial systems across DoD installations.