Cryo Associates Inc.

Cryo Associates Inc. operates as a prime contractor supplying cryogenic equipment, liquid nitrogen storage systems, and related maintenance services to federal research, defense, and health agencies, competing predominantly through small business set-asides and full-and-open procurements on purchase-order vehicles. The vendor is a self-certified small disadvantaged business (SDB) based in Washington, DC, with significant activity historically centered on National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Department of Agriculture customers.

The company's capability portfolio centers on procuring, installing, and maintaining specialized cryogenic infrastructure: liquid nitrogen tanks and piping systems, controlled-rate freezers, vacuum-insulated piping (LN2 VIP), phase separators, and preventive maintenance programs for biomedical research, agricultural preservation, and defense applications. Recent representative work includes a $628.9 million total-small-business contract awarded by USDA Agricultural Research Service Plains Area in September 2021 for a CHART MVE cryo freezer with full SUC-1 boxes for the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado; a $166.3 million total-small-business purchase order from CDC Pittsburgh in August 2022 for 145 vacuum-jacketed hoses to reduce liquid nitrogen loss at the CDC Biorepository; and a $183.6 million total-small-business purchase order from the Air Force Sustainment Center (Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex) in July 2025 for design, manufacturing, and installation of a vacuum-jacketed liquid nitrogen piping system at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

Customer concentration is moderate across research-intensive federal agencies. The top five funding offices by award count account for 34 percent of all awards: the National Institute of Standards and Technology leads with 36 awards and $1.8 million combined potential value, followed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (26 awards, $695 thousand), Office of Naval Research (21 awards, $368 thousand), NIH Office of the Director (19 awards, $27 thousand), and NIAID DEA OA Acquisitions (18 awards, $239 thousand). When ranked by potential value, the Food and Drug Administration anchors the portfolio with five awards totaling $2.5 million, followed by NIST ($1.8 million), USDA Agricultural Research Service Plains Area ($1.3 million), VA Veterans Health Administration VISN 4 ($886 thousand), and NIAID ($695 thousand). The split between award count and dollar-value rankings reflects a mix of high-value single procurements (particularly from FDA and USDA) and sustained engagement with NIST and NIH through repeated smaller task orders.

Cryo Associates places work primarily through the GSA Federal Supply Schedule GS25F5099C, which carries 128 task orders valued at $4.9 million combined potential value, and a blanket purchase agreement (GS25F5099C-HHSN263200300057741B) with 33 task orders at $162 thousand. The vendor also holds an indefinite delivery contract with the VA (VA24412D0114) carrying four task orders valued at $262 thousand. Recent activity has contracted sharply: the portfolio shows 16 awards in 2022, declining to nine in 2023, seven in 2024, five in 2025, and two in 2026. Only four awards with completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $834 thousand, signaling modest recompete exposure in the near term.

The vendor operates as a pure prime contractor — 100 percent of awards are prime contracts or IDVs with zero subcontractor role — and does not report service contract activity in the Service Contract Inventory system above the $150,000 threshold as a prime. The award portfolio spans 357 total contracts across 57 distinct customer agencies dating to 1991, with combined potential value of $17.7 million and $14.7 million obligated to date. Set-aside posture mixes total-small-business and competitive 8(a) designations on higher-value procurements with unrestricted full-and-open competition on smaller equipment and maintenance purchases, reflecting NIST and NIH preference for open competition on commodity-like freezer and tank acquisitions. Primary NAICS concentration centers on Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (166 awards), Metal Tank (Heavy Gauge) Manufacturing (64 awards), and Industrial Gas Manufacturing (18 awards), with leading PSC codes in Laboratory Equipment and Supplies and Refrigeration Equipment.