Engineer Research and Development Center

The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is a federal research entity within the Army that procures contracts and funds grants to support research and development in engineering, environmental science, geotechnical analysis, and civil infrastructure. ERDC awards contracts for laboratory services, specialized equipment, software, research support, and scientific subscriptions; it also funds research grants administered by universities and research institutions.

ERDC awarded 25,848 total federal contracts since 1997, obligating $9.77 billion of $12.42 billion combined potential value. Recent contract volume has declined: 707 awards in 2023, 778 in 2024, 744 in 2025, 289 in 2026, and 3 year-to-date in 2027 through the latest recorded award date in July 2027. The agency transacts heavily through Schedule task orders, BPA calls, and modifications; recent awards with no reported potential value dominate the portfolio. Competition is fragmented among 5,772 distinct prime contractors. Verizon Business Network Services LLC leads by award count over the last five years with 337 awards valued at $141.8 million, followed by Sol Engineering Services LLC (99 awards, $32.9 million) and Tribalco LLC (67 awards, $10.3 million). By combined potential value, Bowhead Total Enterprise Solutions LLC holds the top position at $225.1 million across 35 awards. The top five primes account for 17 percent of recent awards and 4 percent of combined potential value, confirming fragmentation across the competitive base.

Set-asides are minimal: 78 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, 12 percent are total small business, 6 percent are 8(a) sole source, and 1 percent each are HUBZone and competitive 8(a). Remaining categories (SDVOSB, HBCU/MI, WOSB variants) are negligible.

ERDC awarded 303 total federal grants since June 2013, obligating $414.2 million in federal dollars. Grant volume has contracted: 28 awards in 2022, 57 in 2023, 42 in 2024, 27 in 2025, and 16 in 2026 through the most recent award date on October 1, 2026. Among 127 distinct recipients, University of Illinois leads by award count with 21 awards and $10 million federal share over the last five years. University of Delaware, Marquette University, and Louisiana State University dominate by federal dollars, each holding $11 million to $12 million in recent federal share. The top five recipients account for 23 percent of awards by count and 13 percent of federal dollars, indicating fragmented grant concentration. Cooperative agreements comprise 99 percent of awards; block and formula grants are negligible.

Recent contract opportunities span sole-source journal subscriptions (American Society of Civil Engineers e-Journals due October 30, 2026; Association for Computing Machinery e-Journals due November 2, 2026), research and technical services (Explosive Characterization and Technical Service Support for UTEC Corporation, due October 22, 2026), laboratory equipment procurement (Sci-Aps XRF Geo-Chem Analyzer, total small business set-aside, due September 22, 2026), fellowship program administration (ERDC Fellowship Program Administration and Research Support, sources-sought, due October 1, 2026), and a Commercial Solutions Opening for high-performance computing systems acquisition (due October 23, 2026). Most opportunities are simplified acquisitions or special notices; several are set-aside for small business.

No recent grant opportunities are recorded in the source.