Nikki M. Layton

Nikki M. Layton serves as a Procurement Technician at the Pacific Northwest Regional Office of the U.S. Forest Service, where she supports the acquisition of critical services that enable ecological stewardship, infrastructure resilience, and operational continuity across remote forested landscapes. Her role involves executing full-cycle procurement actions under FAR guidelines, from market research and solicitation development to contract award and administration. She primarily handles service-based acquisitions aligned with field-level forest management needs, ensuring timely delivery of technical and engineering support vital to public safety and environmental compliance. Layton maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of specialized contractors, including TRIPLE C-THE A & E GROUP LLC, GREAT WEST ENGINEERING INC, GDM-AE, INC., THOMAS DEAN & HOSKINS INC, and TERRAPHASE ENGINEERING INC. These partnerships reflect a preference for firms with proven expertise in forestry support, civil engineering, and environmental compliance services. Her procurement approach emphasizes collaborative vendor engagement, leveraging contractor technical capabilities to meet complex operational demands in sensitive ecosystems while ensuring adherence to federal standards. A strong advocate for small business participation, Layton consistently prioritizes Total Small Business Set-Asides, directing 87.2% of her acquisitions to small businesses under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to foster economic opportunity within the region’s rural and underserved communities, aligning with the Forest Service’s broader socioeconomic goals. Her contracting patterns demonstrate minimal reliance on open competitions, favoring targeted set-asides that enhance competition among qualified small entities. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), which accounts for over one-third of her portfolio, followed by engineering services (541330) and highway, street, and bridge construction (237310). She routinely procures vegetation management, trail maintenance, erosion control, and geotechnical engineering services, demonstrating deep familiarity with the technical requirements of land management operations in the Pacific Northwest’s diverse and ecologically sensitive terrain.