Mary Grace Cortez

Mary Grace Cortez serves as a key procurement professional within Navfacsyscom Southwest, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to deliver resilient infrastructure for naval installations across the Southwest region. She manages the acquisition lifecycle for critical construction and engineering services essential to facility modernization, utility upgrades, and environmental compliance. Her portfolio centers on complex, mission-critical projects requiring technical expertise in building systems, utility infrastructure, and sustainable design, ensuring operational readiness through compliant and durable infrastructure solutions. Cortez routinely oversees solicitations under FAR Part 36 and leverages performance-based contracting methods to align vendor deliverables with Navy standards. She maintains established relationships with a core group of prime contractors including MCKENZIE CONSTRUCTION & SITE DEVELOPMENT LLC, RSI AMENTUM ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS, L1 ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED, KIEWIT INFRASTRUCTURE WEST CO., and Boh Environmental, L.L.C. These partnerships reflect a preference for experienced firms capable of delivering integrated construction and environmental services, often under design-build or construction management-at-risk delivery models. Cortez fosters collaborative vendor engagement through pre-solicitation outreach and consistent performance evaluation, reinforcing accountability and quality control across project lifecycles. Her contracting approach prioritizes broad market access, with 75% of acquisitions conducted as unrestricted procurements and 25% set aside for total small business participation under FAR 19.5. While she does not routinely favor specific socioeconomic categories such as 8(a) or HUBZone, her consistent use of small business set-asides demonstrates a deliberate commitment to fostering competition and expanding opportunities for qualified small firms in the defense construction sector. Cortez’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and 236220 (Commercial and Institutional Building Construction), reflecting deep expertise in architectural, structural, and MEP engineering support alongside new construction and renovation of military facilities. She specializes in procuring services related to energy efficiency retrofits, hazardous material abatement, and compliance with DoD sustainability mandates, ensuring infrastructure meets both operational and environmental standards.