Lister Chain & Forge Inc.

Lister Chain & Forge Inc. Division manufactures marine chain, anchors, swivels, detachable links, and specialized maritime hardware for federal customers primarily as a prime contractor (92% of awards), with particular strength in small business set-aside work and full-and-open competitive procurements across defense and maritime agencies.

Lister Chain & Forge is a for-profit manufacturer headquartered in Blaine, Washington, with roots dating to 1911. The company is a division of Washington Chain & Supply Inc. and competes across both set-aside and unrestricted categories; roughly 35% of recent prime awards carry small business set-aside designations (Total Small Business or Competitive 8(a) equivalents), while the remainder compete full-and-open. The company qualifies as small under NAICS 336611 (Ship Building and Repairing) and carries primary PSC codes for chain and wire rope (249 awards), fittings for rope and chain (113 awards), and iron and steel products (70 awards).

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy. The Coast Guard accounts for 106 awards and $96.5 million in combined potential value—the single largest customer by far—with the fleet anchored to a $13,974,079 single-award indefinite delivery contract for large open link welded steel buoy chain and bridles running through March 2027. Naval Facilities Engineering Command holds a second major vehicle: a $25 million single-award IDC for fleet mooring chain and accessories running through June 2027. Defense Logistics Agency Aviation places 228 awards totaling $17.8 million across a $250,000 single-award IDC for detachable links and numerous firm fixed-price purchase orders. Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime and Naval Sea Systems Command round out the top five, with $3.7 million and $5 million in combined potential value respectively. These five agencies account for 513 of 566 awards (91% coverage) and $166 million of $179.1 million in combined potential value (93% coverage).

Lister holds at least five material indefinite delivery contracts, each with named task orders. Beyond the three single-award IDCs named above, the company executes delivery orders against Coast Guard vehicles HSCG8412DBHQ010 (31 task orders, $6.9 million), 70Z08422DWOPL0002 (21 task orders, $15.4 million), HSCG2307DECB005 (19 task orders, $16.9 million), and HSCG8417DPML018 (18 task orders, $12.3 million). These vehicles structure the bulk of transactional volume and represent the Coast Guard's reliance on Lister as a qualified single-source or preferred supplier for buoy chain, bridles, anchor chain, and related fittings.

Activity has accelerated in recent years—37 awards in 2022 growing to 76 awards in 2024—though 2025 and 2026 year-to-date show moderation (51 and 11 awards respectively), likely reflecting the calendar effect of a snapshot taken mid-2026. Eight awards with completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $3 million, suggesting modest recompete exposure in the near term relative to the vendor's $179.1 million portfolio.

Lister subcontracts to major shipbuilders on vessel construction and maintenance, with named prime relationships to Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (DDG 51 construction, CVN 80/81 detailed design and construction, multiple contract change orders for stud link chains, anchor components, swivels, and rigging hardware), National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (USS Harpers Ferry restricted availability, T-AO 205 detail design and construction), and Asrc Federal Facilities Logistics LLC. These subcontracting roles, totaling 48 awards (8% of the footprint), supply anchoring and rigging components to naval shipbuilding and fleet maintenance programs.

Recent representative work includes a $2,484,238 delivery order from the Coast Guard (November 2025) for 573 large buoy chains and bridles to nationwide Coast Guard locations; a $2,425,615 cost-plus delivery order for 943 drums of buoy chain for aids to navigation (June 2025); a $533,019 delivery order for steel buoy chain and bridles (April 2025); a $446,348 Total Small Business set-aside purchase order from U.S. Fleet Forces Command for 20 shots of anchor chain to Carrier Strike Group 4 (July 2022); and a $475,854 definitive contract from Naval Sea Systems Command for a spreadmoor anchoring system including 2-inch x 90-foot stud link anchor chain (March 2022). The portfolio reflects routine transactional volume (many orders under $50,000) against the three primary IDC vehicles and discrete large-dollar delivery orders for buoy chain and bridles that anchor quarterly spend.