ECM Distributing, LLC

ECM Distributing, LLC, a small business based in Butte and Dillon, Montana, supplies water handling equipment, materials, and trained personnel for wildland fire suppression and all-hazard incident response to the USDA Forest Service as a prime contractor entirely under total small business set-asides. The company operates exclusively as a prime (100% of recent awards) across a narrow, specialized capability set serving two Forest Service customer offices: the Northern Region office and the National Interagency Fire Center's Fire and Aviation Management division.

ECM Distributing's entire portfolio concentrates on a single NAICS (Support Activities for Forestry, PSC Natural Resources/Conservation—Forest-Range Fire Suppression/Presuppression), and customer concentration is complete: the Department of Agriculture Forest Service R1-Northern Region accounts for 12 awards totaling $215 thousand in combined potential value, while the Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center anchors three indefinite-delivery contracts worth $1 million combined potential value. The two customer offices rank inversely by count and dollar magnitude—Northern Region drives award volume but Fire and Aviation Management drives dollars—but both are the same department and mission set.

ECM Distributing holds three Indefinite Delivery Contracts. The most recent, awarded February 6, 2026, carries a $500 thousand ceiling through May 30, 2030, and covers water handling equipment, materials, supplies, transportation, and trained personnel for East Zone Regions 1, 2, 4, and 9 under a firm fixed-price multiple-award contract. A second $250 thousand IDC awarded May 30, 2025, runs through May 30, 2030, for the same scope across the same regions. A third $250 thousand IDC, awarded May 31, 2022, expired May 30, 2025, but supported water handling for Regions 1, 2, 4, 8, and 9 during its term. These contracts permit optional use by interagency cooperators including the Department of Interior, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Against these IDCs and a Multiple Award Task or Delivery Order Contract (MTBDF) vehicle, ECM Distributing has received twelve delivery orders from the Northern Region ranging from $3,560 to $33,313 per order, with most executed between 2022 and 2024. Recent 2026 Northern Region orders include a $28,350 delivery order awarded August 23, a $20,700 order awarded August 3, and an $8,280 order awarded August 13, all with completion dates in August and September 2026.

Activity remained flat at two to four awards per year across 2022–2026, with fifteen total awards generating $1.2 million in combined potential value. Obligated dollars reached $215 thousand (18% of the combined potential value), indicating task-order execution and contract drawdown against the IDC ceilings rather than full utilization. All work performs at Montana locations (Dillon, Butte) under total small business set-asides, with no subcontract activity recorded.