Fors Marsh Group LLC

Fors Marsh Group LLC, doing business as Fors Marsh, operates as a prime contractor delivering market research, program evaluation, survey design and administration, and strategic communications services to federal agencies on full-and-open IDIQs and BPAs without socioeconomic set-aside designations. A certified B Corporation headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Fors Marsh competes competitively across civilian and defense federal customers; the vendor's 799 recent awards span 68 agencies with combined potential value of $21.92 billion, though only $1.7 billion has been obligated to date, reflecting the ceiling-heavy nature of IDIQ and BPA vehicles.

Customer concentration is extreme and tilted toward two distinct customer profiles. The Defense Human Resources Activity dominates by award count—372 awards (46% of the total portfolio) carrying $725.5 million in combined potential value—anchored by a $134.5 million single-award IDIQ awarded July 14, 2023, that parents the majority of DHRA task orders across FY2023–FY2028. The DHRA work centers on analytical support: survey design and administration, organizational climate assessment (Defense Equal Opportunity Climate Survey / DEOCS), Defense Personnel Assessment and Counseling (DPAC) portfolio analytics, personnel readiness and transition assistance evaluation, military recruitment and retention research, and advertising tracking studies for the Joint Advertising, Market Research & Studies (JAMRS) program. The second dominant customer cluster—GSA Federal Acquisition Service, HHS/NIH, FDA, and HHS/CFPB combined—accounts for $11.2 billion in potential value across 102 awards, driven by Fors Marsh's position on three large government-wide vehicles: a $2.3 billion Human Capital and Training Solutions (HCaTS) Unrestricted GWAC (GSA, awarded May 17, 2022, completion September 25, 2026), a $5 billion National Education Campaign & Outreach Contract (CMS/NEC, awarded September 22, 2025, completion August 31, 2032), and an OASIS+ Unrestricted GWAC (GSA, awarded April 15, 2025, completion April 14, 2030) carrying a placeholder ceiling. A $99 million single-award BPA with the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy (Chief Evaluation Office, awarded September 5, 2023, completion September 4, 2028) and a $70 million FDA Quick Turnaround Social Science Research Services multiple-award BPA (awarded December 18, 2025, completion December 30, 2030) round out the major dollar concentration. Notably, the top five customer agencies by potential value (GSA, NIH, DHRA, FDA, CFPB) account for approximately 54% of the combined potential value, while the top five by award count (DHRA, IRS, CFPB, NIST, NIH) account for 67% of recent award volume, exposing concentration risk: DHRA alone represents 67% of award count and 33% of total potential dollars; GSA vehicles alone represent 33% of potential dollars across just 13 awards.

Fors Marsh's vehicle footprint is extensive. Beyond the government-wide vehicles noted above, the vendor holds single-award IDIQs and BPAs with a dozen agencies, including $1 billion (ceiling) PICS III with HHS/Logistics and Acquisition Operations (awarded December 17, 2024, total small business set-aside, completion December 16, 2029) and the $134.5 million DHRA analytical support services contract. The GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a secondary but significant ordering channel, with 143 task orders carrying $486.2 million combined potential value. The "Advertising & Integrated Marketing Solutions" vehicle (likely a GSA or OPM vehicle) shows 112 task orders worth $87.7 million. Fors Marsh competes under full-and-open authority on all major vehicles; no awards carry 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, or other socioeconomic set-aside designations, with the sole exception of the Total Small Business set-aside on the PICS III IDIQ (though that vehicle's individual task orders are issued competitively without set-aside). The vendor's core NAICS positioning runs to 541511 (Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling, 328 awards) and 541712 (Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities, 298 awards), with PSC codes anchored in B201 (Support - Professional: Market Research / Public Opinion, 265 awards) and related research and analytical support categories.

Activity trajectory shows material deceleration. Awards per year declined from 64 in 2022 to 27 in 2026 year-to-date. This reflects the maturation of large IDIQs into task-order execution phases rather than new IDIQ awards, not loss of customer confidence. The SCI-reported invoicing pattern reinforces the profile: FY2022 captured $344.6 million across 79.5 FTEs (likely driven by peak PICS activity and initial DHRA IDIQ task order issuance), contracting to $41.8 million in FY2023 and $8.9 million in FY2024, then rebounding to $18.6 million in FY2025 across 34.9 FTEs. The rebound and upward FTE trajectory in FY2025 suggest renewed task order issuance momentum. A recompete cliff of 44 awards (combined potential value $87 million) falls due within the next twenty-four months, driven primarily by DHRA delivery order completions and HHS/NIH BPA call expirations scheduled through September 2027.

Fors Marsh operates as a pure prime on SCI-reportable contracts (average sub-hours share is 0% on prime records), indicating vertically integrated delivery rather than reliance on subcontractors. However, the vendor actively subcontracts to larger advertising and marketing primes—DDB Chicago Inc. (Army advertising, research and strategy consulting for AEMO, Drift car wrap, owned channels, data and performance, and research and innovation task orders), Booz Allen Hamilton (floodplain management program support), Federal Management Partners (barrier analysis focus groups), Bixal Solutions (HUD GNMA e-curriculum training), J&M Global Solutions (FEMA Risk Map program management support), and Aptive HTG (VHA integrated healthcare transformation). This subcontracting pattern positions Fors Marsh as a research and strategy consulting feeder to system integrators rather than as a systems integrator itself.

GSA Schedule rates span $54.29 to $334.53 per hour across 44 labor categories, with no security clearance requirements. The median government-paid rate on SCI prime contracts was $135.17 per hour, with 10th percentile at $4.08 per hour (reflecting data-entry or administrative roles on large blended contracts) and 90th percentile at $339.35 per hour (senior consulting and subject-matter-expert roles). The wide range indicates Fors Marsh staffs both junior analytical roles and senior program leadership.

Recent FY2026 awards exemplify the current portfolio: a $24.9 million FDA CTP Regulatory Dissemination and Communication Services delivery order (time and materials, total small business set-aside, completion September 29, 2030) under the FDA Quick Turnaround BPA; a $12.8 million CDC/HHS Overdose Media Campaign order (firm fixed price, MAS, completion September 13, 2030); a $6.35 million Defense Health Agency Real Warrior Campaign order (firm fixed price, OASIS+ Unrestricted, completion September 29, 2030); and multiple $1–$7.8 million DHRA analytics task orders. The $143.8 million PICS II pan-respiratory-virus public education campaign delivery order (April 2024, time and materials, completion April 14, 2025) represents the largest single task order in the recent pipeline, though it has since completed; such large campaign orders are episodic and tied to government emergency or priority initiatives rather than recurring.

Fors Marsh's business model is fundamentally capacity-constrained by the shift from award volume to task-order execution. With 781 prime awards (98% of the portfolio) concentrated in fewer than six major vehicles, the vendor's near-term growth depends on recompete wins on expiring DHRA, FDA, HHS/NIH, and CMS contracts rather than new IDIQ awards. The HCaTS Unrestricted vehicle expires September 25, 2026, creating a critical recompete cliff; CMS's NEC IDIQ and GSA's OASIS+ Unrestricted extend through 2032 and 2030 respectively, providing longer-term stability. The vendor's zero sub-engagement on SCI prime contracts and limited teaming with larger primes suggests a small-to-midsize profile that wins on research methodology and survey execution expertise rather than on systems integration or large-scale program management capability.

Market research and management consulting firm.

Areas of expertise include:

Market Research

Survey Research

Industrial Organizational Psychology

Management Consulting

Public/Private Sector