Lori A Contreras

Lori A. Contreras serves as a Contracting Officer for the USDA Forest Service, where she plays a pivotal role in executing mission-critical acquisitions that support forest health, wildfire mitigation, and operational readiness across federal lands. Her portfolio encompasses a broad range of goods and services essential to sustaining remote infrastructure, emergency response capabilities, and ecological restoration efforts. Contreras manages complex procurements under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, with a strong emphasis on performance-based contracting and mission-aligned vendor selection. She routinely handles contracts for specialized logistics, field support services, and infrastructure maintenance, ensuring compliance with federal environmental and safety standards in rugged, high-risk terrains. Contreras maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These partnerships reflect a blend of niche technical providers, workforce staffing specialists, and medical support vendors critical to sustaining Forest Service operations. Her procurement approach emphasizes reliability, responsiveness, and mission compatibility, often prioritizing vendors with proven experience in federal land management environments and emergency service delivery. A staunch advocate for small business participation, Contreras consistently applies Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with nearly 80% of her awards reserved for small businesses. She also utilizes HUBZone set-asides to promote economic development in underserved rural communities, aligning procurement with broader socioeconomic goals. Her contracting patterns demonstrate a deliberate strategy to cultivate a diverse supplier base capable of delivering essential services in geographically isolated areas. Her primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 333120 (Construction Machinery Manufacturing), 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), 561720 (Janitorial Services), 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction), and 484220 (Specialized Freight Trucking, Local). These categories reflect her expertise in acquiring heavy equipment, field support, facility maintenance, transportation, and infrastructure resilience solutions tailored to the unique demands of federal forest and grassland management.