Melissa La Rosa

Melissa La Rosa serves as Finance Manager for the SFLC Procurement Branch 1 (70Z080) under the U.S. Coast Guard’s Department of Homeland Security, where she oversees financial planning, budget execution, and contract funding for maritime asset sustainment programs. Her role is critical to ensuring the timely disbursement of funds for shipbuilding, dry dock overhauls, and propulsion system modernization initiatives that maintain the operational readiness of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet. She works closely with contracting officers to align fiscal resources with mission-critical acquisition priorities, primarily supporting complex naval maintenance and repair contracts requiring rigorous cost analysis and compliance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) guidelines. La Rosa maintains consistent procurement partnerships with key industrial contractors including Fairbanks Morse, LLC, Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, L.L.C., Bay Ship & Yacht Co., Automatic Coating Limited USA, and Technico Corporation. These relationships reflect a focus on specialized maritime engineering, vessel repair, and protective coating services essential to extending the service life of Coast Guard cutters. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term vendor collaboration, technical validation of deliverables, and performance-based contract management to ensure mission-critical outcomes. Her contracting portfolio demonstrates a strong commitment to small business participation, with 71.4% of awards structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to foster economic opportunity among qualified small firms capable of delivering specialized marine services and industrial maintenance solutions. While no other socioeconomic set-asides are dominant, her pattern underscores a foundational reliance on small business capacity within the maritime industrial base. Despite the agency’s maritime focus, her procurement activity is disproportionately concentrated in NAICS 721110 (hotels and motels) and 722310 (food service contractors), suggesting significant support for transient personnel housing and galley operations aboard or near maritime facilities. Complementary activity in 333618 (engine equipment manufacturing) and 811310 (industrial machinery repair) confirms technical expertise in propulsion and mechanical systems sustainment, aligning with the Coast Guard’s core mission of fleet modernization.