MEF Associates, LLC

MEF Associates, LLC, a small business based in Alexandria, Virginia, provides research, evaluation, and technical assistance services to federal civilian agencies as a prime contractor (61% of recent awards) and as a subcontractor to research and consulting firms, with a specialty in social service and benefits program evaluation across employment, education, child welfare, and workforce development. The vendor competes in both set-aside and full-and-open categories, with total small business set-asides recurring across a subset of the prime footprint.

MEF Associates' customer concentration is heavily skewed toward the Department of Health and Human Services, which accounts for approximately 75% of awards across multiple operating divisions. The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration anchors the portfolio with 16 awards carrying $509.9 million in combined potential value, primarily through a $99 million single-award Blanket Purchase Agreement with the Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office and related HHS-OAS delivery orders. The Administration for Children and Families follows with 16 awards valued at $24 million combined potential, focused on TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), Head Start, and responsible fatherhood program evaluation. The Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, the Department of Labor, and the GSA round out the active customer set with smaller award volumes. Across all customer agencies, 74% of awards concentrate with the top five named funders.

All prime work routes through the General Services Administration's Multiple Award Schedule, where MEF Associates holds a $10 million GSA Schedule contract (with no set-aside designation on the parent vehicle). Of 31 task orders placed against MAS, 17 flow through an HHS Program Support Center vehicle. The vendor also holds a $550 thousand single-award BPA with USDA Food and Nutrition Service for WIC landscape analysis (total small business set-aside) and the aforementioned $99 million Department of Labor Chief Evaluation Office BPA (no set-aside). Representative prime work includes a $9.5 million total small business set-aside delivery order from the Administration for Children and Families for TANF training and technical assistance running through September 2029, a $4.8 million total small business set-aside definitive contract with USDA's Food and Nutrition Service for household food waste classification and measurement, and a $3.8 million time-and-materials delivery order from the Administration for Children and Families for Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood local evaluation technical assistance.

Recent activity shows growth through FY2025: award counts ran 3 per year in 2022, accelerating to 14 in 2024 before moderating to 11 in 2025 and 3 in 2026 year-to-date. The recompete cliff is minimal — only one award (combined potential value $2.4 million) reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating a relatively stable portfolio through 2027 and beyond. On SCI-reportable federal services contracts, MEF Associates invoiced $6 million in FY2025 across 13.2 FTEs, up from $3 million and 8.6 FTEs in FY2024, reflecting 100% growth year over year. The vendor's cumulative SCI-reported invoicing across FY2022 through FY2025 totals $13.2 million. Government-paid hourly rates on prime contracts range from a 10th percentile of $78.10 per hour for research assistants to a 90th percentile of $235.81 per hour for senior research and policy positions, with a median of $166 per hour; GSA Schedule labor categories span from $102 per hour (research assistant, bachelor's degree) to $495.67 per hour (president, master's degree, 15 years experience), with no security-cleared labor offerings.

MEF Associates operates as a prime contractor on most work but also engages subcontractors on a material basis. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors perform approximately 26% of total contractor hours, with 37 named subcontractors reported in recent SCI filings. Major subcontracting relationships include MDRC (Measuring and Implementing Program Effectiveness), on responsible fatherhood and behavioral interventions research; The Rand Corporation, on TANF evidence-building and employment innovation projects; The Urban Institute, on Head Start program design and TANF policy research initiatives; and Mathematica Inc., on Wagner-Peyser Employment Service Program evaluation. Secondary subs include Deloitte Consulting on Head Start enrollment conversion research, Carahsoft on early care and education workforce retention analysis, and Vintun LLC on community choice demonstration evaluation. As a subcontractor, MEF Associates has delivered technical assistance and evaluation services to the Administration for Children and Families through multiple MDRC prime contracts — including testing of responsible fatherhood program components and behavioral interventions to advance self-sufficiency — and to The Rand Corporation on TANF evidence-building initiatives. The vendor also holds a single federal grant award as prime recipient from HHS's Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation for family engagement in migrant and seasonal Head Start, and serves as sub-recipient to Child Trends, Incorporated on related grant work. Recent awards are issued across all federal sources; combined potential value across all 62 prime and sub awards reaches $687.3 million, with $49.5 million (7% of potential) obligated to date.