Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce, a cabinet department administering federal contracts and grants across civilian research, maritime, weather, and intellectual-property missions, obligated $124.89 billion in combined federal contract potential value and $119.39 billion in federal grant dollars across 232,084 contract awards and 47,562 grant awards since 1978 and 1996 respectively. Recent contract activity has decelerated: 7,085 awards in 2023, 6,132 in 2024, 4,168 in 2025, 4,364 in 2026, and 26 year-to-date in 2027, with the most recently recorded award dated in August 2027. Grant awards follow a similar downward trend—2,274 in 2023, 1,886 in 2024, 1,334 in 2025, 301 in 2026, and 9 year-to-date in 2027—with the most recent grant award recorded in February 2027.

Contract competition is highly fragmented. Over the last five years, CSP Enterprises, LLC leads by award count with 1,515 awards ($182.3 million combined potential value), followed by Professional And Scientific Associates, Inc. (1,296 awards, $75.6 million) and Thundercat Technology, LLC (639 awards, $434.1 million). These top three together represent only 15 percent of recent awards by count and 1 percent of recent potential value, indicating that the contracting portfolio disperses across a large vendor base—35,821 distinct prime contractors cumulatively. The agency reserves 73 percent of awards for open competition with no set-aside; small-business set-asides (including 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB collectively) account for roughly 22 percent of awards, with 8(a) sole-source awards representing 3 percent.

Grant recipients are likewise highly fragmented by award count—the University of Hawaii, Regents of the University of Colorado, University of Washington, University of California San Diego, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science together hold only 5 percent of recent awards—though concentrated by federal dollars obligated. The Regents of the University of Colorado dominates by value with 84 awards and $1.82 billion in federal dollars, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission with 41 awards ($549 million), and University of Maryland College Park with 60 awards ($368.2 million); these three account for 3 percent of federal dollars across 8,714 distinct recipients cumulatively. Grant assistance splits predominantly between Project Grants (64 percent of awards) and Cooperative Agreements (35 percent), with Formula Grants representing 1 percent.

Primary contracting activity spans the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and United States Census Bureau. Recent solicitation activity reflects this portfolio mix: NOAA is requesting oil containment boom services for NOAA vessels (small-business set-aside, due October 27, 2026), operations and maintenance for the Fairbanks Command and Data Acquisition Station (small-business set-aside, due November 9, 2026), and radome inspection and engineering services for WSR-88D weather radar systems nationwide via IDIQ (market research, due October 30, 2026). The USPTO is procuring real estate planning and management support services through sole-source award to FD Stonewater, LLC (due October 28, 2026), and Patent Examination Review Assistant (PERA) support from Solve Intelligence, Inc. (due November 5, 2026). The Census Bureau is conducting market research on enterprise RFID technology and warehouse inventory management system integration (RFI due November 4, 2026) and Address List Field Augmentation Data (small-business sources-sought, due November 6, 2026). NOAA NESDIS is pursuing a sole-source ground-station-as-a-service contract with ATLAS Space Operations for satellite telemetry and commanding services, valued $7 million to $10 million (due November 5, 2026).

Open grant opportunities center on NOAA's Broad Agency Announcements. The FY 2027–2029 Oceanic and Atmospheric Research BAA (due September 30, 2029) funds Cooperative Agreements and Grants supporting research on oceanic and atmospheric topics through university, nonprofit, and commercial applicants, including Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit partnerships. The FY 2027–2029 National Marine Fisheries Service BAA (due September 30, 2028) supports research, education, outreach, and innovative projects across marine resource management, with broad eligibility including state and local governments. The FY 2027–2028 NESDIS BAA (due September 30, 2028) funds research and development in satellite data, information services, and environmental observation. The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant (due December 1, 2026) supports stranding network participants and collaborators in marine mammal recovery and research. The Climate Program Office's Earth System Science and Services Partnership (due October 26, 2026) funds Cooperative Agreements for research collaborations among academic institutions offering doctoral degrees in NOAA-related sciences, with approximately $10 million in total NOAA funding available. Coastal flood protection research through public-private partnerships and sediment management (due February 12, 2027) supports Cooperative Agreements with an estimated annual budget of up to $500,000 per project across one to six projects.