Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution, an independent civilian agency that stewards the nation's museum, research, and collection facilities across nine states, the District of Columbia, and two countries, has awarded 42,343 federal contracts since 1979 with a combined potential value of $7.21 billion. The Institution operates 21 museums, the National Zoological Park, and nine research centers across nearly 12 million square feet of facilities, generating substantial contract demand for construction, facilities management, supplies, and specialized services. Contract awards declined sharply over the past five years: 2,790 awards in 2022, 2,053 in 2023, 1,396 in 2024, 934 in 2025, and 495 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent award closed on October 20, 2026.

Among prime contractors awarded over the last five years, Dell Federal Systems L.P. leads by award count with 212 awards (combined potential value $11.6 million), followed by Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees with 139 awards ($2.2 million combined potential value), and Spacesaver Systems, Inc. with 60 awards ($21.3 million combined potential value). By combined potential value, Siris LLC and Ewing Cole Inc. each hold $27.3 million (39 and 21 awards respectively), followed by Spacesaver Systems, Inc. at $21.3 million. Competitive concentration is highly fragmented, with the top five primes by award count covering only 6 percent of recent awards and top five by potential value covering just 1 percent of combined potential value. The portfolio spans 9,766 distinct prime contractors overall. The contracting base is overwhelmingly open competition — 95 percent of all awards carry no set-aside, with small-business set-asides (3 percent) and 8(a) designations (2 percent combined across competitive and sole-source) comprising the remainder.

Current procurement activity emphasizes construction. Solicitation 33330226RF0010010, a Small Business IDIQ for construction services in the Washington, DC metropolitan region, covers projects valued between $1 million and $8 million each and closed with an amended due date of November 9, 2026. Solicitation 33330226RT0010015 seeks a general contractor to construct Phase 2 of the Arabian Leopard Facility at the National Zoological Park, with estimated fixed-price value exceeding $10 million and due date of November 20, 2026; this solicitation has been amended five times with revised bid schedules, RFI responses, and CAD deliverables. A Special Notice posted August 10, 2026 announced the Institution's intent to extend its contract with KODI HOLDINGS for printing and mailing the Smithsonian Associates monthly catalog for one additional option year at an estimated cost of $700,000, with re-competition planned for Fiscal Year 2027.

The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex, with 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoo, and 9 research facilities.