American Association For Laboratory Accreditation, Inc.

American Association For Laboratory Accreditation, Inc., doing business as A2La, is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization headquartered in Frederick, Maryland that provides ISO/IEC laboratory accreditation assessment, certification, and quality assurance services to federal agencies as a prime contractor on a full-and-open basis, with no small business set-asides applied across its federal footprint.

A2La's federal work centers on third-party laboratory accreditation and compliance validation aligned with international standards, principally ISO/IEC 17025:2017, ISO/IEC 17043, ISO/IEC 15189, and ISO 17034. The organization conducts on-site assessments, renewal assessments, document reviews, and quality system evaluations to help federal laboratories across civilian and defense agencies meet rigorous analytical testing requirements. Representative prime work includes a $249,170 Food and Drug Administration purchase order (awarded December 2024) for third-party ISO 17025 accreditation of ORA ORS chemical, biological, electrical, and mechanical testing laboratories through December 2029; a $155,022 CDC Pittsburgh order (June 2022) for accreditation services through May 2027; and a $154,520 USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service definitive contract (January 2024, base plus four option years through January 2029) for ISO 17025, ISO 17043, and ISO 17034 accreditation of three field services laboratories and the Accredited Laboratory Program. A2La also holds a $305,000 single-award IDV with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services (established March 2021 through March 2026) supporting laboratory accreditation across the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, and National Wildlife Research Center's Wildlife Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Ames, Iowa and Frederick, Maryland, and a $46,680 single-award IDV with Naval Sea Systems Command (April 2023 through April 2028) for ISO/IEC 17025:2017 laboratory assessments.

Customer concentration reflects broad penetration across federal laboratory networks. The top five customer agencies by combined potential value account for roughly 45 percent of recent awards: the Food and Drug Administration leads with 43 awards ($1.4 million potential value), followed by the USDA's Veterinary Services (19 awards, $945 thousand), the Army Medical Command (32 awards, $778 thousand), the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (14 awards, $606 thousand), and CDC Pittsburgh (13 awards, $580 thousand). By award count, Naval Sea Systems Command ranks first with 44 awards ($450 thousand), revealing a customer base weighted toward recurring small-to-medium purchase orders and delivery orders rather than large-dollar concentration. Over the past five fiscal years, A2La has averaged roughly 13 awards annually (ranging 11 to 14 per year from 2022 through 2026), reflecting consistent, steady-state engagement. Nineteen awards totaling $807 thousand in combined potential value face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete exposure for competitors.

A2La operates almost exclusively as a prime contractor—400 of 401 total awards in the source are prime contracts and IDVs; the organization holds a single subcontract under Signature Science LLC (Signature Science's CBRNE Detection Quality Assurance QA Program, March 2026, ISO laboratory audits and annual fees). The Service Contract Inventory dataset captures minimal activity: a single SCI record in FY2025 appears to reflect subcontractor labor only (0.1 FTEs, 1 sub record), indicating that most of A2La's federal work either sits below the $150,000 SCI reporting threshold or consists of cost-reimbursable or firm fixed-price accreditation orders that do not generate time-and-materials labor billing reportable under SCI conventions. A2La's corporate structure includes a single named subsidiary, Workplace Training, Inc. (for-profit organization), which likely supports the organization's limited training and educational program delivery (e.g., a $11,100 Defense Health Agency order for ISO/IEC NMT 15 training, January 2023).

A2La's award portfolio concentrates heavily in Professional Organizations and Testing Laboratories NAICS categories (181 and 81 awards respectively) and is coded predominantly under PSC Support—Professional: Certifications and Accreditations (133 awards), with secondary coding in Reference Laboratory Testing (33 awards) and Education/Training for Certifications (24 awards). The organization competes in full-and-open procurements across 66 distinct federal agencies, with work performed at federal laboratory facilities worldwide, including domestic sites (Frederick, Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; Ames, Iowa; Aberdeen Proving Ground; Fort Belvoir; Huntsville, Alabama; and numerous other locations) and overseas locations (Germany, Hawaii, Japan). Performance occurs in both administrative centers and subordinate operational sites. Awards carry firm fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, or definitive contract structures, with ultimate completion dates typically extending four to five years from award, reflecting the recurring annual or multi-year nature of federal laboratory accreditation renewal cycles.