Richard Skinner

Richard Skinner serves as a key procurement lead within the USDA Forest Service’s Csa Southwest 6 office, overseeing the acquisition of critical infrastructure services across national forests and grasslands in the Southwest. His responsibilities include managing the full lifecycle of construction and engineering contracts, ensuring compliance with federal regulations while advancing the agency’s mission of ecological resilience and public safety. He routinely handles complex, mission-critical procurements for transportation, water systems, and facility rehabilitation projects, applying strategic sourcing principles to align contracting outcomes with long-term land management goals. Skinner maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of regional contractors, including Jilk Heavy Construction, MWC Group, Herback General Engineering, JD General Engineering, and White Bear Construction. These partnerships reflect a preference for experienced, locally rooted firms capable of executing heavy civil and specialty trade work in remote, environmentally sensitive terrains. His procurement approach emphasizes reliability, technical proficiency, and proven performance in challenging field conditions, fostering long-term vendor collaboration grounded in mutual accountability and regulatory adherence. A strong advocate for small business inclusion, Skinner consistently prioritizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, directing nearly 89% of contract opportunities to small businesses. His contracting patterns reflect a deliberate commitment to socioeconomic equity, with targeted support for women-owned small businesses and a near-total avoidance of open competitions. This pattern underscores a strategic alignment with federal mandates to expand economic opportunity while ensuring robust, competitive bidding from qualified small entities. His procurement focus centers on NAICS 237990 (Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction) and 238990 (All Other Specialty Trade Contractors), reflecting expertise in infrastructure rehabilitation, erosion control, and non-standard construction tasks unique to federal lands. He also regularly procures services under 237110 (Water and Sewer Line Construction) and 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction), demonstrating deep technical familiarity with the engineering demands of maintaining access and safety across vast, rugged federal territories.