Mineral County

Mineral County, a U.S. local government entity and county government based in Superior, Montana, operates as a federal grant recipient and federal contract prime contractor providing airport infrastructure and helicopter base operations support to the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration. The entity competes in full-and-open procurement (no set-asides applied) and operates across three named subsidiary entities: the Mineral County Sheriff's Department, Mineral County (Non-Profit Organization), and the Mineral County Office of Economic Development.

Mineral County's contract footprint centers on wildland fire response infrastructure. The primary vehicle is an Indefinite Delivery Contract (1202RZ23T0018) with the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Region (USDA R1), a $250,000 IDC valid through May 2028 that provides helicopter base operations and airport support services at Superior Airport in support of wildland fire incident response across the Northern Region. Under this vehicle, Mineral County has issued two task orders totaling $22 thousand in combined potential value. Recent contract work includes a $14,916 delivery order awarded August 15, 2026, for airport infrastructure services at Superior Airport in Kamiah, Idaho; a $7,020 delivery order from August 22, 2023; and a $5,580 purchase order from August 17, 2022. All contract work to date carries firm fixed-price pricing with no set-aside designation.

Mineral County's grant portfolio anchors to the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program (CFDA 20.106) and public health infrastructure grants channeled through state intermediaries. As a prime grant recipient, Mineral County received a $1.077 million FAA Project Grant on September 12, 2025, for Phase 2 construction of a 4,416-square-foot sponsor-owned aircraft storage hangar at Superior Airport, with an ultimate completion date of September 11, 2029. An earlier $334,087 FAA Project Grant awarded August 19, 2025, funds Phase 1 design work for comprehensive airport infrastructure modernization including taxiway, runway, and apron resealing, with ultimate completion by August 18, 2029. As a sub-recipient, Mineral County receives pass-through grants from the State of Montana Department of Health and Human Services (health monitoring and epidemiology programs) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (energy efficiency improvements at the Mineral County Law Enforcement Center), with recent sub-awards in public health surveillance, community resources, and health monitoring frameworks dated between March 2023 and July 2026.

Mineral County's customer concentration is narrow. The top five agencies by award count account for 69% of all awards: the USDA Forest Service Northern Region dominates with 12 awards worth $287 thousand in combined potential value; the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration holds 7 awards; and the Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration (both national and Northwest Mountain Region) accounts for 8 awards combined. The combined dollars obligated across all awards ($5.4 million) far exceed the combined potential value ($293 thousand), reflecting the county's long-standing operational role across multiple small recurring appropriations.

Activity has been modest and irregular, with 4 awards in 2022, 7 in 2023, 3 in 2024, 4 in 2025, and 3 in 2026. The category concentration signal shows primary focus on forestry support activities (13 awards) and forest-range fire suppression (10 awards under PSC code), with secondary exposure to airfield lease and rental (3 awards). Mineral County's role is fundamentally that of a local government operations provider and infrastructure recipient rather than a commercial contractor.