RJ Thomas Manufacturing Company, Inc.

RJ Thomas Manufacturing Company, Inc., doing business as RJ Thomas Manufacturing Co Inc., is a small-business manufacturer of outdoor recreational equipment and site furnishings based in Cherokee, Iowa, operating as a 100% prime contractor across federal agencies. The company manufactures ADA/ABA-compliant picnic tables, fire rings, campfire grills, benches, and related campground amenities in American-made wood and metal construction, competing predominantly under total small business set-asides and full-and-open procurements on federal supply schedules.

RJ Thomas Manufacturing has executed 1,301 prime awards since 1982, with recent activity (2022–2026) averaging roughly 10 to 16 awards per year. The combined potential value across all awards stands at $74.4 million, with $20.9 million (28%) obligated. The company carries no subcontract footprint — all 1,301 awards are prime work. The vendor's customer concentration sits heavily with Department of Interior bureaus and Department of Agriculture Forest Service regions. The top five customers by award count — Defense Commissary Agency (95 awards, $315 thousand), Forest Service R4–Intermountain Region (68 awards, $1.8 million), Forest Service R5–Pacific Southwest Region (43 awards, $1.3 million), National Park Service Intermountain Region (42 awards, $788 thousand), and Forest Service R9–Eastern Region (40 awards, $789 thousand) — account for 22% of recent awards. By potential value, the Forest Service regions dominate: R4–Intermountain, R5–Pacific Southwest, R2–Rocky Mountain, R9–Eastern, and NPS Intermountain together hold roughly 7% of the combined portfolio dollars.

RJ Thomas Manufacturing sits on the Federal Supply Schedule GS07F9714G with 686 task orders valued at $9.6 million, and the GSA Multiple Award Schedule with 102 task orders valued at $2.7 million. These vehicles anchor the majority of recent work. Additional parent vehicles include Indefinite Delivery Contract HDEC0417D0002 (94 task orders, $92 thousand) and GSA Federal Supply Schedule GS07F0351N (37 task orders, $377 thousand).

NAICS concentration is skewed toward wood and metal furniture manufacturing. The vendor's top NAICS categories are All Other Miscellaneous Wood Product Manufacturing (712 awards), Institutional Furniture Manufacturing (228 awards), and All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (70 awards). Top PSC codes are Recreational and Gymnastic Equipment (452 awards) and Miscellaneous Furniture and Fixtures (320 awards). Representative recent work includes a $115.4 thousand total small business set-aside purchase order from the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region (February 2026) for 70 ADA-accessible picnic tables and 70 wheelchair-accessible fire rings under the Great American Outdoors Act; a $60.7 thousand total small business set-aside from the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region (September 2025) for 34 ADA/ABA-compliant snow load-rated picnic tables, 29 fire rings, and 4 barbecue grills; and a $74 thousand Great American Outdoors Act purchase order from the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region (July 2024) for 29 ADA-compliant pedestal picnic tables and 93 fire rings for Fawnskin, California.

Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is minimal — only one award (valued at $34 thousand) faces ultimate completion in that window. Recent activity has declined from 2024 levels (15 awards) to 4 awards in 2025 and 4 awards year-to-date in 2026, signaling either a slowdown in procurement or a shift toward larger, multi-year orders that reduce transaction volume. The vendor's federal footprint is geographically dispersed across public lands managed by Interior and Agriculture, with particularly dense relationships across Forest Service regions and National Park Service areas that support recreation-infrastructure modernization and deferred-maintenance programs.

Manufactures the Pilot Rock brand of: park benches, picnic tables, trash and recycling receptacles and lids, bike racks, utility tables, charcoal park grills, campfire rings, camping lantern poles, bear resistant receptacles and food lockers, and more. Made in the USA since 1959.