Color-Ad, Inc.

Color-Ad, Inc., doing business as Color AD Inc., is a woman-owned small business and economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business (EDWOSB) based in Manassas, Virginia, that fabricates and installs custom exhibits, wayside signage, interpretive media, and museum display systems for federal civilian agencies exclusively as a prime contractor. The vendor competes predominantly under Total Small Business set-asides and holds five active Indefinite Delivery Contracts with combined ceilings exceeding $136 million.

Color-Ad operates as a manufacturer of goods and custom architectural woodwork with primary NAICS classifications in sign manufacturing (339950), custom architectural millwork (337212), and miscellaneous manufacturing. The vendor's award portfolio reflects 417 prime contracts and IDVs (100% prime, zero sub-award activity) with combined potential value of $321.4 million, of which $97.6 million has been obligated. The company's capability portfolio centers on end-to-end exhibit solutions: conceptual design, fabrication, installation, and warranty support for visitor centers, museums, national parks, and cultural institutions. Recent representative work includes a $1.748 million delivery order from the National Park Service for fabrication and installation of interior and exterior exhibits and signage at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park's Kilauea Visitor Center (awarded September 2026, completion January 2028); a $916,918 definitive contract for exhibit design, fabrication, and installation at Saguaro National Park (September 2024, completion April 2028); a $1.413 million delivery order for Gateway Arch National Park Old Courthouse exhibit fabrication (August 2023, completion September 2025); and a $1.094 million contract with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for conceptual design through installation of exhibits at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (August 2023, completion December 2026).

Customer concentration is extreme and decisive. The National Park Service National Office dominates the portfolio at 182 awards worth $248.8 million combined potential value—accounting for 66% of total awards and 89% of combined potential value across the top five customer agencies. The next largest customer, the Department of the Army, holds only six awards ($21.2 million), followed by Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 ($7.1 million), NPS Pacific West Region ($5.3 million), and USDA Forest Service ($5 million). This skew creates significant recompete risk: ten awards with combined potential value of $13.6 million complete within the next twenty-four months, all anchored to NPS vehicles.

Color-Ad holds five primary IDIQs. The largest is the National Park Service $45 million multiple-award contract (award date June 30, 2025, completion June 29, 2030) for exhibit rehabilitation, replacement, and new exhibition production, under which Color-Ad has issued 36 task orders totaling $18.8 million combined potential value. A second $45 million single-award IDIQ with NPS (awarded May 13, 2022, completion May 12, 2027) has generated 28 task orders worth $5.9 million. Color-Ad also holds a $20 million single-award IDIQ with NPS (July 29, 2022, completion July 29, 2027) generating 22 task orders ($7.4 million combined potential value); a $20 million multiple-award IDIQ with NPS for wayside exhibits (July 15, 2025, completion July 14, 2030) with 22 task orders ($4.2 million); and a $6 million single-award IDIQ with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 for interpretive media services (February 14, 2022, completion February 13, 2027) producing 17 task orders ($4.4 million combined potential value). Together, the five IDIQs account for substantial task-order volume and consolidate Color-Ad's market position with its single-largest customer.

Recent activity trends downward. Award velocity fell from 12 awards in 2022 to eight in 2025, with only two awards logged through September 2026 year-to-date. This trajectory reflects task-order fulfillment against established IDIQs rather than new prime wins. SCI-reported invoicing (federal service contracts above $150,000 threshold) totaled $9.8 million across FY2022–FY2025, with FY2023 peak invoicing of $3.4 million across 7.3 FTEs. SCI data show a volatile FTE footprint—from a high of 7.3 FTEs in FY2023 to 4.5 FTEs in FY2024 and recovery to 5.8 FTEs in FY2025—reflecting project-driven staffing on discrete exhibit jobs rather than steady recurring service demand. Median government-paid rates on SCI contracts run $206.54 per hour, with specialist labor priced to $1,983.86 per hour and entry-level labor at $51.01 per hour. Color-Ad self-performs all reported SCI hours; average sub-hours share is 0% across prime contracts, indicating the vendor builds its own delivery capacity and does not operate as a feeder to larger primes.

Set-aside posture is consistent: 100% of Color-Ad's active portfolio carries either Total Small Business or no explicit set-aside designation, with the majority set-aside. This posture and woman-owned small business designation anchor the vendor's competitive position to small-business carve-outs and procurement vehicles reserved for disadvantaged firms. The vendor operates exclusively within the civilian exhibit and interpretive media space; the single Department of the Army award ($1,000 delivery order, August 2022) is a nominal minimum-guarantee task order, not representative of defense footprint.