Todd R. Novinger

Todd R. Novinger serves as a Contracting Officer for the USDA Forest Service, where he manages complex acquisitions critical to operational readiness across remote and rugged federal lands. His portfolio centers on supporting wildfire mitigation, ecological restoration, and emergency response initiatives through specialized transportation and technical services. Novinger oversees the full lifecycle of contract actions—from solicitation and evaluation to award and administration—ensuring compliance with federal procurement regulations while aligning acquisitions with the agency’s mission to sustain forest and grassland ecosystems. He routinely handles high-stakes, time-sensitive procurements requiring rapid mobilization in austere environments. Novinger maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of contractors specializing in air transportation and support services, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These partnerships reflect a focus on niche capabilities such as chartered air logistics, medical evacuation support, and aeronautical system integration. His contracting approach emphasizes reliability, operational flexibility, and technical proficiency, often requiring vendors to demonstrate experience in remote-area operations and emergency response logistics. A strong advocate for small business participation, Novinger consistently prioritizes Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, with approximately 58.8% of his awards reserved for small businesses. His procurement patterns reflect a deliberate strategy to expand economic opportunity within the federal contracting community while ensuring access to agile, mission-capable vendors. He rarely utilizes other socioeconomic set-asides, instead focusing on broad small business eligibility to maintain competition and responsiveness. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 481212 (Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation) and 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation), accounting for over 80% of his activity. He also procures specialized air transportation support services under 488190 and, to a lesser extent, aeronautical system manufacturing and management consulting services. This technical domain expertise underscores his role in enabling the Forest Service’s aerial firefighting, personnel transport, and rapid-deployment operations across the nation’s most inaccessible regions.