Gustafson Gerald

Gustafson Gerald, a veteran-owned sole proprietorship based in Bessemer, Michigan, delivers timber marking, cruising, and volume estimation services to the U.S. Forest Service as a prime contractor exclusively under small-business set-asides. The vendor operates across 64 federal awards (100% prime) concentrated in one customer agency and one parent vehicle, with a combined potential value of $2.6 million and combined obligated dollars of $638 thousand (24% of potential value).

The vendor's customer footprint is heavily concentrated. The Department of Agriculture Forest Service R9-Eastern Region accounts for 59 awards (94% of the portfolio) with $2.6 million combined potential value, leaving one award with the Forest Service Research Service Northern Research Station totaling $14 thousand. This extreme concentration reflects Gustafson Gerald's specialization in a narrow forestry capability set aligned to one regional Forest Service customer's recurring needs across the Ottawa and Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forests in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Gustafson Gerald holds a single-award $2 million Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA 12363N24A4002) with the Forest Service R9-Eastern Region, awarded October 1, 2023, running through November 15, 2028, which anchors the prime footprint. This BPA authorizes task orders between $4,000 and $16,000 covering 140 to 300 acres per order. The vendor has issued five task orders under this BPA to date, generating $59 thousand in combined potential value. Individual task orders are set aside for total small business and involve timber marking, sample tree cruising, and volume estimation across red pine plantations and hardwood stands. Recent named examples include a $13,112 order on May 1, 2024, for marking and cruising 298 acres of red pine plantation thinnings across thirteen cutting units (completion July 1, 2025); an $8,550 order on July 1, 2024, for approximately 190 acres of red pine stand assessment in the Turnpike timber sale (completion July 1, 2025); a $12,314 order on August 19, 2024, for marking and cruising near Glidden, Wisconsin (completion September 30, 2025); and a $12,056 order on August 4, 2025, for 274 acres of red pine thinning on the Washburn Ranger District (completion November 20, 2026).

Activity declined materially in recent years — five awards in 2022 fell to three in 2023 and three in 2024, with only one award in 2025 and one in 2026. Only two awards (combined potential value $25 thousand) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting limited recompete exposure in the near term. The vendor competes exclusively under small-business set-asides; the NAICS and PSC footprint is concentrated in Timber Tract Operations (42 awards) and Support Activities for Forestry (22 awards), with PSC codes centered on Natural Resources/Conservation–Site Preparation (43 awards) and Tree Thinning (7 awards).