Helmer Scientific LLC

Helmer Scientific LLC, doing business as Helmer, is a foreign-owned manufacturer of medical-grade refrigeration and laboratory equipment that operates exclusively as a prime contractor on federal task orders and indefinite delivery contracts, with no subcontract footprint. The company is based in Noblesville, Indiana and competes full-and-open with no SBA set-aside designations, though roughly one-quarter of its delivery orders carry small-business set-asides from individual Veterans Integrated Service Networks despite the vendor's foreign-ownership status preventing eligibility for those designations.

Helmer's concrete capability is the manufacture and distribution of specialized medical-grade refrigeration and laboratory storage equipment — blood bank refrigerators, plasma freezers, laboratory refrigerators, centrifuges, cell washers, platelet incubators, and related devices — together with preventative maintenance and repair services for the same equipment. Representative prime awards include a $899,559 delivery order from Veterans Integrated Service Network 17 (awarded August 2021, set-aside for total small business despite foreign ownership) for refrigerators and freezers running through September 2022; a $353,984 delivery order from Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 (July 2024, set-aside for total small business) for lab refrigerators and freezers; a $202,314 delivery order from Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 (July 2025) for pharmacy refrigerators; and a $1,385,100 five-year Indefinite Delivery Contract with the Indian Health Service (awarded November 2024) for preventative maintenance and repair services on 220 to 450 medical-grade refrigerators and freezers at IHS Phoenix-area facilities through September 2027. The IHS IDC carries a base-year value of $270,000 and has generated two delivery orders to date totaling $118,150.

Customer concentration is extreme and tied to a single vehicle. The GSA Federal Acquisition Service dominates the portfolio with 13 awards carrying $63 million in combined potential value — nearly 93 percent of the vendor's total pipeline. This concentration reflects Helmer's seat on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule, which anchors 71 task orders across $3.1 million in combined potential value. The Indian Health Service represents the second-largest customer with 6 awards and $1.6 million combined potential value, followed by Veterans Integrated Service Network 17 (2 awards, $922 thousand), Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 (6 awards, $543 thousand), and Veterans Integrated Service Network 10 (15 awards, $292 thousand). The top five customer entities by potential value account for 98 percent of combined pipeline dollars; by award count, the same set accounts for 58 percent of awards, indicating that GSA task-order volume is concentrated in dollar magnitude while VA VISNs drive transactional frequency through smaller individual orders.

Helmer holds a position on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule and a single-award IDC with IHS for maintenance and repair services. The Multiple Award Schedule vehicle carries 71 delivery orders valued at $3.1 million combined potential value, with the IHS IDC accounting for an additional $1,385,100 ceiling through September 2027. Most task orders are small — medical equipment deliveries and maintenance calls typically range from under $5,000 to $100,000 — with the notable exception of large bundled procurements such as the $899,559 VISN 17 refrigerator order and the $353,984 VISN 6 lab-equipment order. Top PSC codes reflect the equipment portfolio: Refrigeration Equipment (36 awards), Laboratory Equipment and Supplies (31 awards), and Medical and Surgical Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies (16 awards).

Activity trajectory shows strong growth from a low base. The vendor recorded 2 awards in 2021, jumped to 26 awards in 2023, 22 in 2024, and 32 in 2025, with 2 awards recorded in the first two months of 2026. Combined potential value across all 95 prime awards totals $67.7 million, with only $3.2 million obligated to date (5 percent obligation rate), indicating substantial unexercised ceiling capacity on the GSA MAS and the IHS IDC. The recompete window is not acute; no cluster of awards facing imminent completion drives near-term competitive risk, though the GSA MAS position itself carries renewal exposure dependent on schedule recompete dynamics at the federal acquisition level.

Helmer maintains ISO 13485:2016 certification for medical device manufacturing and employs qualified technicians to perform preventative maintenance and repair services in accordance with original equipment manufacturer requirements. The company's federal customer base spans 26 distinct agencies, with the Veterans Health Administration network, Indian Health Service, Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Medical, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of State, and Defense Health Agency forming the core customer set. Performance locations are concentrated in Noblesville, Indiana (the vendor's headquarters and primary manufacturing site) and subordinate federal facility locations nationwide where equipment is delivered or services performed in-situ — including Phoenix-area IHS facilities, multiple VA medical centers, and NIH and CDC campuses.