Kennedy Inc.

Kennedy Inc., doing business as Newport Sterling, is a small business manufacturer of military uniforms, insignia, medals, ribbons, badges, and other recognition items that operates as a prime contractor on federal purchase orders and indefinite delivery contracts. Based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and registered in SAM.gov since 2005, Kennedy competes predominantly under small business set-asides—the majority of its federal awards carry total small business designations—and holds two active indefinite delivery vehicles with the Department of the Army and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy's customer footprint is heavily concentrated in military recognition and uniform supply. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Clothing and Textiles division dominates the portfolio: 354 awards worth $19 million combined potential value represent 96 percent of Kennedy's recent award count and 63 percent of combined potential value. The next largest customer is DOD's Washington Headquarters Service with 21 awards valued at $4 million, followed by the U.S. Coast Guard (18 awards, $890 thousand), the Department of the Army (4 awards, $164 thousand), and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (3 awards, $234 thousand). The concentration with DLA Troop Support is decisive: roughly 85 percent of Kennedy's recent potential value flows through that single customer.

Representative work includes purchase orders for military insignia (enlisted and officer rank insignia, branch of service insignia, garrison insignia), individual decoration sets, service medals and medal sets, qualification and identification badges, lapel buttons and award pins, ribbon attachments, and commemorative items such as Vietnam War veteran lapel pins. Ceiling values on individual purchase orders range from a few thousand dollars to around $425,000. Kennedy's largest recent award is a $992,200 single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract with Army Headquarters effective April 2026 through March 2031 for U.S. Army Retired Lapel Buttons and related military recognition products. The vendor also holds a $750,000 multiple-award Blanket Purchase Agreement with the Department of the Army Joint Munitions Command through July 2026 for unspecified commercial products and non-IT services, and a $125,025 single-award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract with HHS ASPR for COVID-19 and public health emergency award medal sets (currently under unilateral termination modification).

Activity has grown moderately: Kennedy received 37 awards in 2022, 30 in 2023, 42 in 2024, and 52 in 2025—a shift toward more volume but sustained concentration in small, individual purchase orders rather than larger vehicles. Place of performance is consistently North Kingstown, Rhode Island, with deliveries routed to Arizona Industries for the Blind in many DLA contracts. Six awards worth $800 thousand face completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure. Kennedy competes almost entirely on a full-and-open basis within the small business set-aside universe and does not subcontract; all 415 awards in the source data are prime contracts or IDVs. The vendor's NAICS footprint reflects its core business: Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing (230 awards) and All Other Miscellaneous Textile Product Mills (94 awards) dominate, with 401 of 415 awards classified under PSC Badges and Insignia.