Ocean Associates Inc.

Ocean Associates Inc. Main Office Division, doing business as OAI Consulting, is a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) headquartered in Arlington, Virginia that delivers scientific, technical, and administrative support services to the federal government almost exclusively as a prime contractor under total small business set-asides. The vendor operates as a specialist provider to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with 98% of its 1,272 awards and $30.42 billion in combined potential value flowing from NOAA across fisheries, oceans, and weather domains. OAI Consulting is a Subchapter S corporation classified under primary NAICS 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services) and secondary categories spanning environmental consulting, scientific and technical consulting, and biotechnology research, though its federal footprint centers on professional and technical services delivery rather than software development.

OAI Consulting's capability portfolio is grounded in marine science, fisheries management, environmental compliance, and coastal-ocean research support. Representative work includes a $7.85 million Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Surveys delivery order (time-and-materials, September 2025, NOAA Fisheries, ProTech 2.0 Fisheries Domain); a $6.41 million Northeast Fisheries Science Center laboratory program support contract (time-and-materials, September 2025, NOAA, ProTech 2.0 Fisheries Domain); a $7.8 million advanced coastal modeling development delivery order (firm fixed-price, September 2023, NOAA National Ocean Service, ProTech Services Solution); a $9.18 million Endangered Species Act Sections 7 and 10 program support order (time-and-materials, June 2023, NOAA Office of Protected Resources, ProTech Services Solution); and a $3.72 million Coastal Resilience and Restoration Collaborative grants evaluation and communication strategy task (January 2025, NOAA Office of Coastal Management, National Ocean Service BIL BPA). The vendor also performs ESA consultation services for non-NOAA agencies, including a $1.15 million Endangered Species Act consultation order from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (October 2021, GSA Schedule) and supporting services to Fish and Wildlife coastal habitat management. Work spans field research, habitat restoration analysis, policy analysis, data management, geospatial metadata maintenance, technical editing, and administrative biotechnician support across NOAA's fisheries science centers (Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Alaska) and regional offices (West Coast, Alaska).

OAI Consulting maintains four parent indefinite delivery vehicles with NOAA totaling $31 billion in ceiling authority. The ProTech 2.0 Fisheries Domain ($8 billion ceiling, multiple-award set-aside for small businesses, performance through September 2029) has generated 503 delivery orders worth $31.7 million in combined potential value, with recent task orders supporting marine mammal surveys, shellfish ecosystem research, salmon habitat restoration, hydrological technical analysis, and hatchery genetic management planning. The ProTech 2.0 Oceans Domain ($8 billion ceiling, multiple-award small-business set-aside, through April 2029) has carried 286 task orders worth $43.3 million, funding coastal data management, advanced coastal modeling, ocean observation support, and marine resource management services. The ProTech 2.0 Weather Domain ($8 billion ceiling, multiple-award small-business set-aside, awarded September 2025, through January 2031) represents the vendor's entry into NOAA weather and atmospheric programs. The National Ocean Service Bipartisan Infrastructure Law BPA ($17 million ceiling, single-award small-business set-aside, through May 2026) has funded coastal water level observation networks, bathymetric source development, and habitat restoration projects. OAI Consulting also holds a $9.667 million Fish Ecology Division Scientific Support Services BPA (single-award small-business set-aside, through August 2028) from which two call orders (Lower Estuary, $4.94 million; Lower Granite, $779 thousand) have been issued. The GSA Multiple Award Schedule grounds 197 task orders worth $106.3 million across NOAA and non-NOAA agencies (Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Commerce) for professional services and staffing support.

Customer concentration is extreme: NOAA accounts for 1,243 of 1,272 awards (98% by count) and $30.42 billion of combined potential value (100% of the portfolio). The remaining awards—three Fish and Wildlife Service contracts ($1.5 million), two Department of Commerce orders ($51 thousand), two GSA Federal Acquisition Service awards ($3.6 million), and one National Park Service Pacific West Region order ($26 thousand)—are nominal by comparison. This single-customer dependency creates significant recompete exposure: 16 awards totaling $41 million in combined potential value face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing approximately 0.1% of the vendor's ceiling authority but a meaningful fraction of obligated near-term revenue.

Activity has grown in recent years but has moderated since 2024. The vendor received eight awards in 2022, fourteen in 2023, seventeen in 2024, twelve in 2025, and four through September 2026 (a partial year). Service Contract Inventory data reveals SCI-reportable invoiced revenue of $4 million in FY2022, $7.8 million in FY2023, and $14 million in FY2024, delivered across roughly 30, 60, and 95 FTEs respectively—a trajectory of 3.5X growth in invoiced billings over two years. Median government-paid hourly rates on SCI contracts run around $65.44/hr, with the 10th percentile at $50.06/hr and 90th percentile at $127.26/hr. The GSA Schedule labor portfolio spans 110 active categories ranging from $43.31/hr (Clerical/Administrative Technician, high school education, no experience required) to $305.65/hr (Executive Consultant with PhD and 20 years of experience); the vendor offers no security-cleared roles. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for approximately 2% of total contractor hours, with only two named subcontractors appearing in the SCI dataset, indicating that OAI Consulting builds its own delivery teams for federal service work rather than relying on sub-engagement.

OAI Consulting operates entirely as a prime contractor on federal awards—zero subcontract revenue appears in the vendor_award_portfolio—and maintains no reported teaming relationships with larger primes. The vendor holds a single federal grant award: a NOAA cooperative agreement for whale entanglement research on commercial fishing gear (reducing breaking-strength ropes in crustacean pot gear), awarded August 2022 with completion scheduled June 2025, focused on computer modeling and at-sea testing to inform NMFS weak-gear performance standards.

Provide full spectrum support for administrative, scientific, and program offices, laboratories and other facilities. Provide fast-paced teams to do analyses, plans, evaluations, and reports on diverse subjects with particular expertise on science and regulation of commercial and recreational fisheries, aquaculture, protected resources, habitats, oceans, and climate change impacts.