Chris Harner Excavating

Chris Harner Excavating, a sole proprietorship and self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Ozark, Illinois, delivers road maintenance, culvert replacement, bridge repair, and forest infrastructure services to the USDA Forest Service as a prime contractor exclusively under total small business set-asides and full-and-open competitions. The company holds two single-award indefinite delivery contracts with the Forest Service's Eastern Region (Region 9) and operates under a multiple-award blanket purchase agreement, generating a portfolio of 87 prime awards worth $7.8 million combined potential value since 2004.

The vendor's customer concentration is near-total: the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Region 9–Eastern Region accounts for 72 of 84 tracked awards (86% of the portfolio) and $7.2 million of the $7.8 million combined potential value. The Forest Service Washington Office Economic Recovery Operations Center East holds one award worth $196 thousand. Work is performed across southern Illinois, primarily at Harrisburg and Herod, encompassing approximately 125 miles of national forest roads within the Shawnee National Forest's Hidden Springs Ranger District and Mississippi Bluffs Ranger District. NAICS coding runs primarily to 238990 (Support Activities for Forestry, 48 awards) and 237310 (Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction, 30 awards); PSC coding emphasizes R499 (Natural Resources/Conservation–Other), R799 (Housekeeping–Landscaping/Groundskeeping), and R700 (Maintenance of Highways/Roads/Streets/Bridges/Railways).

Recent representative work includes a $565,098.18 definitive contract awarded May 1, 2026, for repaving and miscellaneous construction at Bell Smith Springs in the Shawnee National Forest (road reconstruction, parking improvements, culvert installation, drainage, chip seal, and stone masonry across three forest roads); a $76,185.20 BPA call issued September 14, 2026, for removal and replacement of an undersized culvert on FR-485; and a $67,650 BPA call awarded October 1, 2026, for Lincoln Memorial Dam repair. The vendor's two largest parent vehicles are single-award IDIQs: the Shawnee National Forest Hidden Springs Road Maintenance IDIQ ($1.54 million ceiling, running through August 2029, awarded August 20, 2024) and the Shawnee National Forest Mississippi Bluffs Road Maintenance IDIQ ($1.54 million ceiling, also through August 2029, awarded August 28, 2024). These anchor the bulk of task order volume; five additional IDIQ vehicles generate task orders in the $180 thousand to $377 thousand range. Nine awards totaling $916 thousand face completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore represent near-term recompete exposure. Activity has accelerated recently—nine awards in 2026 through mid-October against three in 2023 and five in 2024—driven by task orders against the newly awarded IDIQs.

The company can perform road blading and shaping, roadside mowing and brushing, remove debris from plugged culverts, bridges, ditches and disposal off forest land. Culvert replacement that includes removal,installation, grading, armoring, traffic control, seeding nd mulching. Road surfacing repairs that include gravel and pavement replacement. Clearing right of way of large trees, adding approved fill to meet appropriate grade, remove existing oil and chipped surface by milling and scarifying, mechanical compaction, oil and chip final road template.