AST Associates Inc.

AST Associates Inc., a self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Griswold, Connecticut, manufactures specialized mechanical hardware components and fasteners for the Defense Logistics Agency as a prime contractor, competing predominantly in full-and-open procurements rather than set-aside vehicles despite its small disadvantaged business certification.

The company operates as a Subchapter S corporation focused on hardware manufacturing, spring manufacturing, fasteners, bearings, and ordnance-related components. AST Associates has delivered over 2,100 awards to federal customers since 1993, with combined potential value of $13.7 million and obligated dollars of $4.9 million across the past several years. The vendor holds no parent vehicle positions on government-wide IDIQs, GWACs, or civilian agency schedules; instead, it operates as a prime contractor on direct DLA indefinite-delivery contracts and spot purchase orders, with performance occurring at facilities in Jewett City and Griswold, Connecticut.

Customer concentration is acute and DoD-centric. The Defense Logistics Agency accounts for 99% of recent awards by count and 97% by potential value, split between DLA Aviation (892 awards, $4.2 million), DLA Land and Maritime (771 awards, $8 million), DLA Troop Support Hardware (387 awards, $724 thousand), and DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment (63 awards, $175 thousand). The Department of the Army holds 10 awards, and 14 distinct customer agencies appear across the portfolio, but DLA dominates decisively.

Capability work is granular and transactional. Representative prime awards include a $71,966 total small business set-aside purchase order from DLA Land and Maritime (July 2025) for 386 bore brush assemblies; a $23,388 Land and Maritime purchase order (April 2025) for block components; an $11,156 DLA Aviation delivery order (August 2025) for filler opening caps under a total small business set-aside IDC with $250,000 ceiling; and a $7,958 DLA Land and Maritime purchase order (December 2024) for battery retainer components. More recent work includes five indefinite-delivery contracts awarded April 2026 and February 2026, each carrying $350,000 ceilings and total small business set-asides, for helical extension springs, helical compression springs, PIN LOCK components, and connector assemblies. The bulk of the portfolio comprises purchase orders and delivery orders valued under $10,000, supporting aviation, land, maritime, and weapons-system hardware needs across CONUS and OCONUS DLA depots.

Activity has contracted sharply in recent years. The vendor received 171 awards in 2022, 235 in 2023, but only 163 in 2024, 142 in 2025, and 33 in 2026 year-to-date through April. Only five awards face ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, carrying combined potential value of $27 thousand—minimal recompete exposure. Top product service codes reflect the vendor's narrow focus: coil, flat, leaf, and wire springs (253 awards); bushings, rings, shims, and spacers (215 awards); commercial hardware (198 awards); chain and wire rope (149 awards); and plain unmounted bearings (143 awards). The vendor does not subcontract and carries no documented defense teaming relationships in the source material.