National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a civilian sub-agency of the Department of Commerce that procures laboratory instrumentation, research equipment, and related services to support measurement science and standards development, awarded 47,912 federal contracts totaling $6.95 billion in combined potential value since 1979. NIST transacts heavily through Schedule task orders, BPA calls, and below-threshold purchase orders; recent awards show no reported potential value in the source data. Contract volume has declined from 1,215 awards in 2023 to 950 in 2026 and 14 year-to-date in 2027 through March, reflecting a slowdown in recent activity.

Over the last five years, NIST's prime contractor base is highly fragmented. By award count, the top five primes—CSP Enterprises LLC (301 awards), Strativia LLC (184 awards), and Prometheus Computing LLC (168 awards)—hold only 15 percent of recent awards. By potential value, concentration remains minimal: The Mitre Corporation leads with $110.4 million across 26 awards, followed by Software Information Resource Corp. with $47.1 million across 76 awards and Olgoonik Enterprises LLC with $42 million across 20 awards, collectively representing only 4 percent of combined potential value. Across the portfolio history, NIST has engaged 9,375 distinct prime contractors. Approximately 70 percent of all awards carry no set-aside designation; 23 percent are small-business set-asides, with 8(a) designations (sole source and competitive combined) accounting for 6 percent of the total.

NIST awarded 6,016 federal grants totaling $8.24 billion in combined federal dollars obligated since 1996, with 1,238 distinct recipients. Grant-making activity declined from 286 awards in 2023 to 125 in 2025, 39 in 2026, and 2 year-to-date in 2027 through February. Grant recipients are highly fragmented by count and by dollars. The top recipients—Theiss Research (50 awards, $16.8 million federal), University of Maryland College Park (20 awards, $104.8 million federal), and Purdue University (14 awards, $10.2 million federal)—hold only 11 percent of recent awards by count. By federal dollars, The Regents of the University of Colorado ($147.2 million across 7 awards), University of Maryland College Park ($104.8 million), and Johns Hopkins University ($81.8 million across 5 awards) represent only 5 percent of combined federal dollars. Cooperative Agreements comprise 79 percent of grant awards; Project Grants comprise 21 percent.

Recent contract opportunities span specialized equipment procurement—femtosecond lasers, flow cytometers, oscilloscopes, chromatographs, and residual gas analyzers—alongside facility services including duct cleaning and electrical maintenance at the Gaithersburg campus. NIST-AMD-TPO-RFI-26-15, a pre-solicitation request for information posted September 28, 2026 (due October 13, 2026), seeks market research on SBIR commercialization-plan review services. Solicitation 1333ND26QNB190579 for duct cleaning services at Gaithersburg, set aside for Total Small Business (due September 24, 2026), and solicitation NB67101002602288 for PSITC relocation support, also Total Small Business (due September 15, 2026), represent facility and logistics work. The Building 215 Cleanroom HEPA Filter Replacement RFI (RFI-195000-26-00181, due November 2, 2026 as extended) indicates significant facility infrastructure work in acquisition planning; a site visit is scheduled for October 9, 2026. Recent grant opportunities are not present in the source block.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology promotes measurement standards, conducts a wide array of scientifc research, and offers smaller manufacturers technical and business assistance.