Core Trading Co

Core Trading Co Inc., a minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Chesapeake, Virginia, supplies pharmaceuticals and medical/surgical products to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Logistics Agency as a prime contractor exclusively under full-and-open and small business set-aside purchase orders. The vendor is a Subchapter S corporation structured as a for-profit entity with Black American ownership.

Core Trading Co's capability portfolio centers on pharmaceutical procurement and distribution, particularly to VA Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP) facilities across the country, supplemented by medical/surgical supplies, diagnostic equipment, and over-the-counter medical items. Representative work includes a $825,484.80 firm fixed-price purchase order from Veterans Integrated Service Network 15 in March 2026 for carboxymethylcellulose sodium 1% ophthalmic gel pharmaceutical products with monthly deliveries through June 2026; a $557,700 contract from Veterans Integrated Service Network 15 in February 2025 for Budesonide inhalation suspension (15,700 units); a $173,516 August 2024 order from Veterans Integrated Service Network 15 for multiple medical/surgical items including infusion sets, urinary drainage bags, and lancets to the Leavenworth CMOP; and recurring small-dollar purchase orders from the Defense Logistics Agency Medical Supply Chain for items such as intravenous stands, anesthesia sets, diagnostic pads, and pharmaceutical products. The vendor operates entirely as a prime contractor with no documented subcontract footprint.

Customer concentration is extreme and concentrated in the VA healthcare system. The top five customer agencies account for 81 percent of awards by count and 89 percent of combined potential value. Veterans Integrated Service Network 15 dominates the portfolio, with 72 awards carrying $3.8 million in combined potential value. Veterans Integrated Service Network 1, 12, 7, and 22 together account for approximately $4.5 million across 126 awards. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Medical ranks second by award count (66 awards) but carries only $89 thousand in potential value—reflecting a pattern of numerous small, commodity-level orders. The Tennessee Army National Guard and other non-VA agencies account for scattered single-digit awards of minimal dollar value.

Approximately 67 percent of awards fall under total small business set-asides, with 13 percent awarded under service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-asides and 20 percent issued under full-and-open (no set-aside) procurement. The vendor's awards are heavily concentrated in pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing (191 awards, 67% of the portfolio) followed by in-vitro diagnostic substance manufacturing (28 awards) and surgical and medical instrument manufacturing (23 awards). The top PSC category is Drugs and Biologicals (191 awards), with Medical and Surgical Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies comprising the second-largest category (75 awards). Work across all categories consists of individual purchase orders with ceiling values ranging from under $100 to approximately $825 thousand, with most orders carrying delivery requirements of ten to fifteen days after award and FOB Destination terms.

Activity trajectory shows volatility: 14 awards in 2022, 40 in 2023, 27 in 2024, 19 in 2025, and 25 year-to-date in 2026. Combined potential value across all 287 prime awards stands at $9.2 million, of which $8.9 million (98 percent) has been obligated. The vendor holds no parent vehicles, IDIQs, or GWACs and competes transactionally against other small business holders on individual VA and DLA purchase orders. Core Trading Co's federal footprint has grown since its initial award in 2014 but reflects characteristic small business pharmaceutical and medical supply distribution patterns—high transaction volume at low unit values, concentrated customer base, and full dependence on continued small business set-aside and spot-buy competition with VA and DLA.

over 19 years of experience in Pharmaceutical wholesale industry, Procurement, Manage National Accounts, Sales Training, Budget