Improving Economies For Stronger Communities

Improving Economies For Stronger Communities (IESC), a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, operates as a prime recipient of federal cooperative agreements and definitive contracts focused on international agricultural development, food security, youth employment, and economic growth programs in developing countries and emerging democracies. IESC competes in full-and-open procurements without set-aside designations, working primarily under USAID and Department of Agriculture cooperative agreements and funding mechanisms.

IESC's capability portfolio centers on multi-year development activities: agricultural productivity improvement, food security and school feeding programs, youth workforce development, market systems strengthening, and technical assistance delivery across trade, agribusiness, and enterprise development. Representative recent work includes a $38.1 million USDA Food for Progress (CFDA 10.606) cooperative agreement through September 2030 to deliver agricultural modernization and market systems strengthening in Vietnam; a $29.7 million McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (CFDA 10.608) cooperative agreement from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service to execute school feeding, literacy, and maternal and child nutrition programs in Sri Lanka; a $12 million definitive contract from the U.S. Mission in Albania (June 2024, completing February 2025) supporting market economy strengthening and EU accession criteria; and a $5 million USAID cooperative agreement (CFDA 98.001) to increase rural youth livelihood pathways in Senegal's Feed the Future Zone of Influence, combining agriculture, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.

Customer concentration is highly skewed by dollar value. The top three customer entities by potential value — USAID Vietnam ($26.8 million), USAID Caucuses Georgia ($24 million), and USAID Albania ($12 million) — account for 97 percent of combined potential value across all awards. By award count, concentration is more distributed: the USDA Farm Service Agency Kansas City Commodity Office leads with seven awards, followed by USAID with six awards and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency with four awards, covering 48 percent of total awards. IESC has served 22 distinct federal customer agencies in recent history.

Activity is sparse but high-dollar: forty-eight total awards with a combined potential value of $66 million, though obligated dollars reach $477.5 million, indicating substantial prior-year funding and contract modifications. Award volume declined from six in 2024 to one in 2025 year-to-date. Only two awards face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal near-term recompete exposure in the snapshot. IESC acts as prime recipient in 94 percent of awards; subcontract work is negligible, limited to three sub-awards under Education Development Center, Inc. and Land O'Lakes Venture37 in youth employment, workforce development, and agricultural food systems strengthening in Cambodia. IESC engages Idra as a subcontractor for monitoring, evaluation, and learning functions and technical assistance on the Albania development initiative. The portfolio skews toward international affairs and development consulting (top NAICS: Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services, followed by All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services), with modest defense-related research and special studies activity routed through DTRA.