Rubicon Programs Inc.

Rubicon Programs Inc., a Richmond, California-based nonprofit and AbilityOne agency, provides grounds maintenance, landscaping, and facilities management services to federal agencies as a prime contractor across 236 recent awards with no set-aside designation—all work is awarded on competitive merit basis. The organization operates as a community development corporation with a mission centered on employment and supportive services for individuals facing poverty and homelessness, leveraging federal contracting as a vehicle for workforce development while delivering specialized grounds maintenance work at military and civilian installations.

The vendor's federal customer base is heavily concentrated in two agencies: the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 21 (VA VISN 21) anchors the dollar value at $69.8 million across 21 awards and ranks first in potential value, while the Department of Homeland Security Coast Guard dominates by volume with 74 awards valued at $20 million combined. The ranking gap is substantial—VA VISN 21 accounts for 68% of the vendor's combined potential value despite holding 9% of award count, driven by large-value grounds maintenance contracts at the Palo Alto, California VA medical center. The Department of Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (general) round out the active customer set. Together, these five agencies account for 76% of award volume and 87% of combined potential value. The Coast Guard relationship, while substantial in order count, centers on smaller-value delivery orders for discrete tree work and site cleanup at Bay Area installations.

Rubicon's contract vehicle footprint is concentrated on single-award indefinite delivery contracts rather than government-wide vehicles. The Coast Guard indefinite delivery contract 70Z08420DA1152100, valued at $3.1 million combined across 46 delivery orders, is the largest vehicle by task-order count. A newly awarded Coast Guard IDC (HSCG8910D6SA005) carries a five-year ceiling of $5.58 million through June 30, 2030, with initial delivery orders issued in summer and fall 2026 for grounds maintenance at Base Alameda, Sector San Francisco, and Flag Officers Quarters. The VA VISN 21 IDC VA26116D0079 accounts for $13.4 million across 9 task orders. Two additional Coast Guard vehicles (70Z08425DDL940002, valued at $1.4 million across 11 orders, and HSCG8910D6SA005 with $23 thousand across 11 orders) provide smaller contract homes for specialized and routine maintenance work.

Recent award activity shows volatility. Rubicon received 14 awards in 2022, declining to 8 in 2024, then recovering to 16 in 2025, with only 5 awards recorded through mid-September 2026 (the source capture date). The recompete cliff over the next twenty-four months is minimal—only 4 awards with combined potential value of $766 thousand face completion and recompete inside that window. The majority of the vendor's work carries completion dates extending through 2027–2030, reducing near-term renewal pressure.

Rubicon's capability portfolio is narrowly specialized around grounds maintenance and landscaping. Representative recent awards include a $18.3 million definitive contract with VA VISN 21 (December 2023) for grounds maintenance services in Palo Alto running through December 2028; a $2.57 million purchase order from VA VISN 21 (June 2023) for similar Palo Alto facility work; and a series of Coast Guard delivery orders ranging from $609 to $668,075 for tree removal, irrigation repairs, plant installation, storm cleanup, and recurring monthly grounds maintenance at Base Alameda and Yerba Buena Island. The vendor's NAICS profile is dominated by landscaping services (103 awards) and landscape architectural services (5 awards); its PSC footprint is nearly entirely housekeeping-landscaping/groundskeeping (146 awards of 146 total PSC-coded awards). No construction, engineering, or facilities management work beyond grounds care is present in the portfolio.

On SCI-reportable federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold, Rubicon invoiced $6 million across FY2022–FY2025 as prime contractor (16 records), with invoicing concentrated in FY2023 at $4.7 million. FTE workforce scale on SCI-reportable contracts ranged from 0 FTEs in FY2024 to 16.8 FTEs in FY2023, reflecting the lumpy and seasonal nature of grounds maintenance work and the fact that SCI captures only contracts exceeding the $150,000 threshold. On SCI-reportable prime contracts, median government-paid hourly rates ran around $127.89/hr, with 10th percentile labor at $111.98/hr and 90th percentile senior labor at $171.57/hr—a narrow band consistent with groundskeeping and landscaping labor markets rather than specialized technical services. Rubicon performs its own delivery across SCI-reportable prime contracts with zero average sub-hours share, indicating vertically integrated crew delivery rather than a subcontractor-heavy model.

Rubicon operates as a prime on 100% of its recent awards (236 prime, 1 grant sub-award to a state grantee). The organization's only named subsidiary is Rubicon Enterprises, Inc., also registered as a nonprofit. The vendor competes exclusively on merit without leveraging small-business set-asides, which is unusual for a nonprofit but consistent with AbilityOne agency positioning—such agencies are required to provide employment for individuals with disabilities and compete through the AbilityOne procurement program rather than SBA set-asides. Rubicon's federal footprint remains tightly anchored to maintenance-tier contracting across civilian and military installations, with no expansion into IT services, professional services, or mission-critical support work evident in the award record.