Mary M. Van Sickle

Mary M. Van Sickle serves as a key procurement professional within the U.S. Army Engineer District Walla Walla, supporting the agency’s mission to deliver critical civil and military engineering solutions across the Pacific Northwest. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on infrastructure resilience, including dam and levee maintenance, navigation system upgrades, hydropower facility support, and environmental restoration projects. Her work ensures operational readiness and public safety through compliant, mission-driven contracting under the Department of Defense’s engineering and construction framework. Van Sickle routinely handles complex service and construction contracts requiring technical expertise in hydraulic systems, geotechnical engineering, and ecological compliance. She maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of regional contractors including JR MERIT, INC., NORTHBANK CIVIL AND MARINE, INC., NORTH WIND GENERAL CONTRACTORS LLC, KNIGHT CONST. & SUPPLY, INC., and TRANSCO INDUSTRIES, INC. These partnerships reflect a preference for experienced, locally rooted firms capable of executing specialized civil works, marine construction, and infrastructure rehabilitation tasks under stringent federal standards. Van Sickle fosters collaborative, performance-based contracting models that emphasize safety, schedule adherence, and environmental stewardship. A strong advocate for small business participation, Van Sickle prioritizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with over 60% of her awards designated for small businesses. Her contracting patterns reflect a deliberate strategy to maximize economic opportunity for small, locally based firms while ensuring technical competency in complex engineering environments. She rarely employs full and open competitions, favoring targeted set-asides to promote equitable access and regional economic development. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS codes related to scientific and technical consulting (541690), research and development in engineering sciences (541712), and land management services including landscaping (561730) and recreation infrastructure (721211, 712190). This reflects her agency’s dual emphasis on technical engineering support and public-access natural resource management, requiring expertise in environmental planning, ecological restoration, and sustainable infrastructure design.