Histology Consultation Services, Inc.

Histology Consultation Services, Inc. (doing business as HCS), a small business based in Everson, Washington, provides histological tissue processing and microscopic analysis services to federal fisheries research and forensic pathology programs exclusively as a prime contractor under total small business set-asides. HCS operates as a for-profit corporate entity and has been registered with the System for Award Management since 2008, building a specialized practice around formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimen preparation, slide staining, and quality control for federal laboratory and research applications.

HCS's federal customer base is highly concentrated. The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) accounts for 29 of 33 total awards (88% of the portfolio) and $2.7 million of the $2.8 million combined potential value, while the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 Headquarters holds the remaining two awards worth $135 thousand. Across the portfolio, HCS operates entirely on small business set-asides; all recent awards carry total small business set-aside designations except for one 2022 NOAA purchase order awarded full-and-open. The vendor has no subcontract footprint and does not sit on government-wide vehicles; a single indefinite delivery contract (DOCDG133F08CQ0082) carries one task order valued at $15 thousand.

Representative work includes a $47,350 firm fixed-price purchase order from NOAA's Alaskan Fisheries Science Center (awarded September 2026, running through September 2031) to process fish ovaries for histological analysis supporting fisheries stock assessment; a $70,637.50 Total Small Business award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory (August 2024) for forensic pathology casework histological processing, embedding, and specialized staining (H&E, histochemical, and immunohistochemistry techniques); and a $13,500 purchase order from NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center (September 2025) to prepare 1,500 microscope slides of groundfish ovary specimens using paraffin-embedded methodology to support West Coast groundfish maturity research.

Activity has been sparse and flat. The vendor received two awards in both 2022 and 2023, three in 2024, one in 2025, and one in 2026, with only one award (valued at $15 thousand) scheduled for completion within the next twenty-four months. HCS's primary capability concentration aligns with the NAICS and PSC coding: Testing Laboratories and Services (21 awards), with secondary focus on Special Studies/Analysis—Animal/Fisheries (13 awards by PSC) and Reference Laboratory Testing (7 awards). The combined $290 thousand in obligated dollars across the $2.8 million potential-value portfolio reflects the purchase-order structure and annual task-based nature of the work, with individual awards typically valued between $9,600 and $70,637.