Sofia M Basso

Sofia D. Basso serves as a Purchasing Agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, Office of Acquisition and Procurement, where she facilitates the acquisition of mission-critical scientific infrastructure essential to national agricultural research. Her responsibilities include managing the procurement of high-precision laboratory instrumentation, specialized analytical equipment, and technical services that support cutting-edge research in food safety, plant pathology, and biophysical analysis. She ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning procurement actions with the agency’s strategic goals of maintaining operational readiness in both field and laboratory environments. Sofia maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of specialized vendors, including MCKENZIE CONSTRUCTION & SITE DEVELOPMENT LLC for facility upgrades, LARKOS PACKING AND DISTRIBUTION INC. for controlled-environment logistics, ARABIC INTERPRETERS LLC for scientific translation services, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC for advanced instrumentation support. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term vendor partnerships grounded in technical reliability, regulatory compliance, and service responsiveness, particularly for complex, high-stakes scientific equipment installations and maintenance. She demonstrates a strong commitment to small business participation, with over half of her procurements structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, reflecting a deliberate strategy to expand economic opportunity among qualified small firms. While no set-aside remains a significant portion of her portfolio, her contracting patterns consistently prioritize small business eligibility and socioeconomic program alignment. Her primary procurement focus lies within NAICS 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing), where she acquires ultra-low-temperature freezers, micro-CT scanners, and sterilization systems critical to biological and chemical research. She also engages in niche procurements under NAICS 325998 for specialized chemical preparations used in laboratory protocols. Sofia’s expertise centers on technical procurement for precision science, ensuring that every acquisition meets stringent research and safety standards.