Lori McCarty

Lori McCarty serves as a Contract Specialist at the Federal Correctional Institution at Mendota (FCI Mendota), within the Bureau of Prisons under the Department of Justice. She is responsible for managing the full lifecycle of procurement actions supporting critical facility operations, with a primary focus on food service supply chains and essential utility support. Her role ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while delivering nutritionally compliant, culturally appropriate meals to incarcerated populations. McCarty routinely handles simplified acquisitions, blanket purchase agreements, and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, prioritizing operational continuity and logistical reliability in a high-stakes correctional environment. McCarty maintains a consistent working relationship with Western State Design, Inc., a key vendor providing specialized food service and distribution solutions. Her contracting approach emphasizes long-term vendor partnerships grounded in performance accountability and supply chain resilience. She engages primarily with merchant wholesalers and logistics providers capable of meeting strict federal dietary standards and just-in-time delivery requirements, fostering collaborative relationships that align with the facility’s mission of safe, sustainable operations. A staunch advocate for small business participation, McCarty exclusively utilizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, ensuring all eligible procurements are reserved for small businesses. Her contracting patterns reflect a deliberate and consistent commitment to socioeconomic programs, with no awards issued to large businesses, thereby maximizing opportunities for small, locally rooted suppliers to support federal correctional operations. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS 424410 (General Line Grocery Merchant Wholesalers) and 424470 (Meat and Meat Product Merchant Wholesalers), reflecting deep expertise in sourcing perishable and non-perishable food commodities under stringent federal nutrition guidelines. McCarty’s technical domain expertise lies in cold chain logistics, USDA-compliant protein procurement, and culturally diverse dietary requirements, ensuring that supply chain operations meet both regulatory and humanitarian standards within the federal corrections system.