Hawaii Volcano Observatory

The Hawaii Volcano Observatory, a sub-agency of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) within the Department of the Interior, procures contract services and equipment supporting volcanic monitoring, research infrastructure, and scientific operations at Hawaii's active volcanoes. The Observatory has awarded 527 contracts since 2009, with recent activity averaging 10 awards per year over the last five years (14 in 2022, 7 in 2023, 12 in 2024, 14 in 2025, and 5 year-to-date in 2026).

The Observatory's contracting footprint is modest and highly fragmented. Combined contract potential value across the portfolio is $5.4 million, and 282 distinct prime contractors have been awarded work. Over the last five years, award volume has concentrated modestly among the top five primes by count, who hold 23% of recent awards. Manuiwa Airways, Incorporated leads in both award count (4) and combined potential value ($353 thousand), while Earthscope Consortium Inc., Thomas-Jon K Hoomanawanui, Crown Castle USA Inc., and K & S Helicopters, Inc. each account for 2 awards. By potential value, the top five primes hold only 10% of combined recent dollars, reflecting a long tail of small contractors and individual vendors; notably, Erin Lysne, Venessa Kuchenik, and Darrian Ellis-Hardin each landed single awards in the $42,000 to $67,000 range. Approximately 8% of recent awards carry no reported potential value, typical of Schedule task orders, BPA calls, modifications, or below-threshold purchase orders.

Set-asides are minimal across the portfolio. Ninety-five percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, while 5% go to total small business (25 awards), with 1% reserved for Woman-Owned Small Business sole-source (3 awards). The Observatory obligated 100% of combined potential value, indicating full execution of awarded amounts.

No recent contract opportunities are present in the available data. Business development efforts should focus on volcanic monitoring and geoscience support services, with awareness that the Observatory's contracting is highly distributed across many small-dollar vendor relationships and transacts substantially through Schedule vehicles or BPA structures where potential value goes unreported.