Virginia Grimes

Virginia Grimes serves as a key procurement lead within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), supporting the agency’s mission to advance oceanic, atmospheric, and coastal science through strategic acquisitions of specialized instrumentation and data systems. She manages complex contracting actions focused on high-precision environmental monitoring equipment, remote sensing technologies, and operational data acquisition platforms. Her work directly enables NOAA’s core functions in weather forecasting, marine ecosystem research, and climate resilience initiatives, ensuring that scientific and operational needs are met through compliant, performance-based contracting practices. Grimes maintains consistent partnerships with a select group of technical contractors, including WISCONSIN EDUCATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS BOARD, TRONCONI SEGARRA & ASSOCIATES LLP, JNB SERVICES LLC, PURE ENVIRO-MANAGEMENT, LLC, and THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO. These relationships reflect a preference for firms with proven expertise in environmental instrumentation, data analytics, and marine system integration. Her contracting approach emphasizes long-term technical collaboration, often involving performance specifications and deliverables tied to scientific outcomes rather than commoditized goods. Grimes does not utilize socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of her acquisitions conducted under full and open competition. This reflects a procurement strategy prioritizing technical capability and mission-critical performance over socioeconomic preferences, aligning with NOAA’s need for specialized, non-commoditized solutions where only a limited pool of qualified vendors exists. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 333316—Instrumentation for Measuring, Testing, and Controlling Environmental Conditions—which encompasses advanced sensors, buoys, autonomous underwater vehicles, and atmospheric profiling systems. She specializes in acquiring mission-critical hardware and integrated systems that support NOAA’s observational networks, demonstrating deep familiarity with oceanographic and meteorological instrumentation standards and federal acquisition regulations governing scientific equipment procurement.