Kurt J Lesker Co

Kurt J Lesker Co, doing business as Kurt J Lesker and subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes advanced vacuum technology equipment—including vacuum chambers, pumps, deposition systems, sputtering targets, and atomic layer deposition reactors—to federal research agencies as a prime contractor (99% of awards) and minor subcontractor. The company is a woman-owned small business headquartered in Clairton, Pennsylvania, competing predominantly in full-and-open competitions rather than set-asides; of the 688 total awards in the source, fewer than half carry small-business set-aside designations, and the vendor has secured full-and-open awards across NIST, NASA, and defense research laboratories.

Customer concentration is heavily skewed toward civilian research agencies. The top five customers by award count account for 48% of all awards: the Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology leads with 109 awards worth $11.1 million combined potential value, followed by the Department of the Navy Office of Naval Research with 97 awards worth $5.7 million, and the Department of the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command with 38 awards worth $3.4 million. NASA's Shared Services Center and Glenn Research Center round out the active set. When ranked by potential value rather than count, the same three agencies dominate, accounting for roughly 74% of combined potential value across all awards. The vendor's customer base spans 56 distinct federal agencies, but work concentrates in civilian research infrastructure — NIST, NASA, ONR, and Army Research Laboratory account for the bulk of dollars.

The vendor operates primarily through individual purchase orders and delivery orders rather than parent vehicles. The largest parent vehicles identified carry modest ceilings: Indefinite Delivery Contract 1333ND20DNB680032 (with NIST) anchors 8 task orders worth $1.5 million combined potential value; four other NIST IDCs each carry fewer than 5 task orders. The portfolio shows no presence on GWACs, agency-wide IDIQs, or GSA Schedules; instead, Kurt J Lesker Co sells directly to end-user agencies through firm fixed-price purchase orders, delivery orders, and definitive contracts. Recent contract work includes a $520,650 cost-plus-fixed-fee UHV deposition system for NASA Glenn Research Center (awarded September 30, 2024, completion April 30, 2026), a $738,030 tri-layer system for NIST (awarded August 2, 2024, completion May 1, 2025), a $687,000 atomic layer deposition base system for Naval Research Laboratory (awarded September 30, 2021, completion July 30, 2022), and a $299,000 thermal-vacuum chamber system for the Naval Academy (awarded May 28, 2025, completion May 27, 2026). Smaller orders — under $100,000 — for vacuum pumps, valves, chambers, and components span research facilities nationwide.

NAICS distribution reflects the vendor's equipment-focused portfolio. Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing (137 and 72 awards), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (52 awards), Pump and Pumping Equipment Manufacturing (43 awards), and Other Professional Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (53 awards) account for the bulk of classified work. PSC framing aligns: Laboratory Equipment and Supplies (236 awards) and Compressors and Vacuum Pumps (139 awards) dominate, with smaller exposure in Environmental Chambers and Related Equipment and Semiconductor Devices and Associated Hardware.

Activity has remained flat to slightly declining over the past five years — 17 awards in 2022, declining to 6 in 2026 year-to-date (a partial-year snapshot). Three awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months with a combined potential value of $429,000, presenting minimal recompete pressure. The vendor's sub-award footprint is negligible (1% of total awards), with recent sub work routed through Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies (National Security Campus management), Peraton Inc. (NASA environmental test and integration services), General Atomics (inertial confinement fusion targets), Fluor Marine Propulsion (Naval Nuclear Laboratory operations), Hamilton Sundstrand (mass spectrometry analyzers), and HII Technical Solutions (Naval Research Laboratory pulsed power support). A named subsidiary, KDF Technologies LLC, carries the same woman-owned designation but plays no named role in the visible federal footprint.

The vendor holds a $3.7 million indefinite delivery contract with NIST for vacuum pumps and related equipment, which surfaces across multiple summaries as an anchor to recurring delivery orders. Beyond that IDIQ, Kurt J Lesker Co operates as a sole-source supplier to multiple agencies — NASA, ONR, and Army Research Laboratory have each awarded equipment contracts with "sole-source" or "special notice" framing, citing the vendor as the only responsible source for specialized vacuum deposition and chamber technologies. This specialization anchors the customer relationship but limits vehicle diversification and exposes the vendor to direct-order volatility rather than vehicle-driven task order flow.