Golden Crest, Inc.

Golden Crest, Inc., a for-profit small business based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, provides heavy equipment rentals and water handling services to the USDA Forest Service and federal land-management agencies as a prime contractor on 96% of its recent awards, competing predominantly under total small business set-asides through the Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) system.

The vendor's capability portfolio centers on specialized equipment for wildland fire suppression and emergency response, including excavators, water tenders, feller bunchers, road graders, skidders, mulchers, and potable and gray water trucks with trained operators. Representative work includes a $96.1 thousand delivery order from USDA Forest Service Region 2 (Rocky Mountain Region) for heavy equipment rental supporting fire suppression in Durango, Colorado (July 2026); a $75.6 thousand delivery order from USDA Forest Service Region 6 (Pacific Northwest Region) for equipment and operators in Wenatchee, Washington (August 2026); and a $75.9 thousand delivery order from USDA Forest Service Region 4 (Intermountain Region) for equipment rentals in Boise, Idaho (September 2024).

Customer concentration sits heavily with the USDA Forest Service across multiple regions and program offices. The top five customer entities account for 77% of recent awards by count and 94% by potential value, led by the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center (15 awards, $4.1 million combined potential value), the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (17 awards, $1.1 million), and the Department of Agriculture Forest Service R4-Intermountain Region (18 awards, $703 thousand). The Forest Service's dominance across both rankings reflects Golden Crest's specialization in fire suppression logistics; the National Interagency Fire Center awards anchor the dollar value while regional offices drive award volume.

Golden Crest holds multiple indefinite delivery contracts under the VIPR system with the National Interagency Fire Center, all total small business set-asides with five-year performance periods. Four IDCs awarded in February 2026 each carry $500 thousand ceilings covering water handling for East Zone Regions 1, 2, 4, and 9 (through May 2030); heavy equipment for East Zone Regions 1, 2, 4, and 9 (through June 2028); potable and gray water trucks and handwashing stations for Regions 1, 2, and 4 (through May 2029); and miscellaneous heavy equipment for Regions 1, 2, and 4 (through May 2029). Additional IDCs with $250 thousand ceilings, awarded between June 2022 and May 2025, cover water handling and heavy equipment across overlapping Forest Service regions. Task orders issued against these vehicles range from $3.8 thousand to $96.1 thousand, with Golden Crest placing orders across the top five parent vehicles at rates averaging $40–$75 thousand per delivery order.

Activity has been volatile year to year—seven awards in 2022, declining to four in 2023, growing to twelve in 2024, then dropping to five in 2025 before recovering to eight in 2026. The vendor carries minimal recompete exposure in the near term, as most VIPR vehicle awards are multi-year IDCs with completion dates extending to 2028–2030. Historically, Golden Crest has held federal work since at least May 2008, demonstrating sustained market presence across the Forest Service's fire and land-management mission.

Golden Crest operates predominantly as a prime contractor; sub-award activity is negligible (three awards, 4% of the footprint), consisting of water hauling and trailer-filling services for the Idaho Cleanup Project under a Department of Energy environmental remediation contract. The vendor's 74 awards under NAICS 238990 (Support Activities for Forestry) and 68 under PSC Forest-Range Fire Suppression confirm a focused capability set with no meaningful diversification into other federal programs or agencies. The combined potential value across all 83 awards is $6.7 million, with $1.8 million obligated to date (26% of potential), reflecting the short-duration, quick-turnaround nature of emergency response and incident-specific delivery orders characteristic of VIPR operations.

aggregate loading and hauling,road building and maintance, mine hauling, potable water hauling, sewer removal, excavating, demolition and hauling, snow removal, equipment hauling, agriculture tilling and planting