Sharon Carter

Sharon D. Carter serves as a Senior Contracting Officer at Federal Prison Industries (Unicor), where she leads the acquisition of goods and services critical to the agency’s mission of providing vocational training and meaningful employment to incarcerated individuals. Her responsibilities include managing full lifecycle procurements under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, ensuring compliance with statutory mandates that prioritize inmate labor and cost-effective federal sourcing. She specializes in complex contracts for warehousing, logistics, manufacturing, and facility support services, often coordinating with multiple federal stakeholders to align procurement outcomes with Unicor’s rehabilitation and self-sufficiency objectives. Carter maintains longstanding relationships with a select group of mission-aligned contractors, including Veterans Range Solutions, LLC, Krueger International, Inc., Veterans Environmental Group, LLC, Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, and Nightingale Corp. These partnerships reflect a strategic emphasis on organizations that share Unicor’s commitment to social impact—particularly those serving veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other underserved populations. Her contracting approach prioritizes collaborative, long-term vendor engagement grounded in performance reliability and alignment with rehabilitative goals. A staunch advocate for socioeconomic equity in federal contracting, Carter consistently applies Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, directing approximately 80% of her acquisitions to small businesses. Her portfolio reflects a deliberate preference for service-disabled veteran-owned, HUBZone, and 8(a) certified firms, reinforcing Unicor’s broader commitment to inclusive economic opportunity. This pattern underscores a disciplined, values-driven procurement strategy that leverages set-aside authorities to expand market access for disadvantaged entrepreneurs. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 493190 (Other Warehousing and Storage), which accounts for over 70% of her activity, followed by manufacturing of conveying equipment (333922) and industrial machinery (333244). She also oversees real estate-related services (531320) supporting Unicor’s operational infrastructure. Carter’s technical expertise centers on logistics, material handling systems, and industrial facility support, ensuring acquisitions directly enable the production and distribution of federally mandated goods through inmate labor.