Under Contract

The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency awarded a maximum $39.6 million, one-year contract to Intercell USA for an unstated number of doses of the Japanese encephalitis vaccine — though the “realistic contract estimate” is $32.8 million, according to contract disclosures. The disease is similar to West Nile virus, and transmitted only by mosquito. It has been seen in most of Asia, including India, Japan, Vietnam, China and Korea, and parts of Pakistan and Russia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The Federal Acquisition Service within the General Services Administration purchased $6.25 million in standing desks, in two varieties: adjustable and fixed height. Two different chair types, with similar specifications, are also required. Neutral Posture Inc. won the contract without “full and open competition” because the Women-Owned Small Business Program allows sole-source awards to women-owned small businesses. Neutral Posture is an “economically disadvantaged women-owned small business,” according to disclosures. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is continuing to hand out contracts related to recovery efforts following Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria:

Chef Minute Meals, which touts its “famous heat-and-eat cuisine,” won a $3.5 million FEMA contract specifically for victims of Hurricane Irma. The CEO of Chef Minute Meals, Barry Sendel, told a local news station that the company has shipped out 12 tractor-trailer loads of meals in Texas.

FEMA has also bought 100,000 rolls of plastic sheeting meant to help protect roofs damaged from hurricanes in the Caribbean, worth $33.6 million, from OSC Solutions. Hundreds of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico need the tarps, and FEMA says the agency has distributed about 38,000 as of mid-October.

For the U.S. Virgin Islands, FEMA purchased 20 40-foot “Straight Frame Chassis Trailers” from The Josephs Group for $112,375. “The purchase of these new trailers will augment FEMA’s capability to support disaster survivors in St. Thomas, V.I.,” the contract document says. “This effort will mitigate any potential shortfalls caused by the unavailability of trailers and the long lead times associated with acquiring leased trailers during an emergency.”

Contract information compiled from General Services Administration data and government press releases. Send announcements about government contracts to mwilson@digital-staging.thehill.com.