Bill Paulton

Bill Paulton, doing business as Paulton Enterprises, a self-certified small disadvantaged business sole proprietorship based in Edgemont, South Dakota, supplies water handling equipment, fire suppression resources, and emergency response services to the U.S. Forest Service and allied federal agencies as a prime contractor exclusively under small business set-asides. The vendor operates across western U.S. locations—South Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Montana, Arizona, and Nebraska—with place of performance tied to regional Forest Service offices and maintains no subcontract relationships.

The vendor's customer base concentrates heavily on the Forest Service. The top five funding entities account for 83 percent of recent awards by count: the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2) leads with 34 awards ($1.8 million combined potential value), followed by the National Interagency Fire Center with 8 awards ($1.6 million combined potential value), and the Forest Service's generic listings, Northern Region (Region 1), and Southwestern Region (Region 3) rounding out the active set. A single $852,000 award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 6 represents outlier dollar concentration; the Forest Service ecosystem dominates both volume and dollars. Primary capability framing sits in two NAICS categories: Support Activities for Forestry (67 of 71 awards) and PSC codes for forest-range fire suppression and fire-fighting equipment (48 and 19 awards respectively). Representative work includes a $69,282 delivery order for water handling equipment and fire suppression resources awarded July 14, 2026, by Forest Service Region 2 under a total small business set-aside, a $114,800 delivery order for water tenders and fire engines awarded October 1, 2024, also under Region 2, and a $75,503 delivery order to the Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region in August 2023 for water handling support.

The vendor holds four active indefinite delivery contracts with the National Interagency Fire Center and the Forest Service, all under total small business set-asides: a $250,000 multiple-award IDC for miscellaneous heavy equipment covering East Zone Regions 1, 2, and 4 (awarded August 7, 2026, expiring August 7, 2029), a $500,000 multiple-award IDC for water handling across Regions 1, 2, 4, and 9 (awarded February 6, 2026, expiring May 30, 2030), a $250,000 multiple-award IDC for water handling covering Regions 1, 2, 4, and 9 (awarded May 30, 2025, expiring May 30, 2030), and a $250,000 multiple-award IDC for water handling for the East Zone (awarded June 1, 2022, expiring May 30, 2025, now approaching completion). Delivery orders flow through multiple Blanket Purchase Agreements and IDCs: BPA AG82X9B167022 carries 18 task orders worth $795,000, IDC 1202SB22T7482 carries 14 task orders worth $551,000, and IDC 1202SB25T7839 carries 7 task orders worth $248,000. Activity has grown to eleven awards in 2026 after a low point of one award in 2023, with combined potential value across all 71 prime awards totaling $5.2 million and $3.7 million obligated. The vendor competes exclusively under total small business set-asides and holds no positions on government-wide vehicles outside the Forest Service and National Interagency Fire Center contracting ecosystem.