Starkey Laboratories Inc.

Starkey Laboratories Inc., a for-profit manufacturer of customized hearing aids, wireless hearing systems, diagnostic instruments, and hearing aid repair services, operates as a dominant federal prime contractor without reliance on set-aside designations or subcontractors across both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. The company, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, competes full-and-open and holds a corporate subsidiary in Micro Ear Technology, Inc.

Starkey's federal footprint centers on two marquee contract vehicles anchoring its customer concentration. The $4 billion single-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract with the VA's Veterans Integrated Service Network 19—awarded May 1, 2025, extending through April 30, 2030, and designated a GSA Best in Class procurement—covers customized prescription hearing aid devices, wireless hearing systems, diagnostic instruments, hearing aid earmolds, and comprehensive repair services. The contract was awarded as a sole-source procurement under Title 41 U.S.C. 3304 following market research confirming that only the original manufacturer can perform repairs on proprietary Starkey devices. A complementary $150 million single-award IDIQ for hearing aid parts and accessories, awarded December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2030, operationalizes technical refresh and inventory rotation. Monthly delivery orders under these vehicles have ranged from approximately $4.6 million to $8.4 million throughout 2025. Starkey also holds a $960,000 single-award BPA from the Indian Health Service awarded June 30, 2025 through April 30, 2030 for hearing aid supplies and repair services at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center Audiology Department, plus a $35 million IDIQ (36C79124D0005) with VA VISN 19 for hearing aid repairs and accessories running through November 2025, now in recompete posture. A $1.25 million multiple-award BPA with the Department of the Army Medical Command rounds out the IDV portfolio.

Customer concentration is extreme: the top five funding organizations account for 93% of combined potential value across the 7,100-award portfolio. VA VISN 19 anchors the portfolio with 655 awards carrying $6.59 billion in combined potential value, dwarfing all other customers. The Indian Health Service places 223 awards valued at $13 million combined. The Department of the Army Medical Command, VA VISN 22, and VA VISN 6 together carry less than $2.5 million. Awards span primarily NAICS 5047 (Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers, 3,691 awards) and NAICS 3345 (Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing, 1,288 awards), with PSC Medical and Surgical Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies dominating (4,882 awards). Recent award activity has been steady—22 to 34 awards per fiscal year 2022–2025—but the portfolio faces material recompete exposure: two awards (combined potential value $245 thousand) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, though this represents a negligible portion of the $6.59 billion VISN 19 concentration.

Starkey operates as a manufacturer and goods supplier rather than a service contractor. SCI-reportable service contract invoicing totaled $27 million across FY2022–FY2024 (FY2022: $6 million / 8.5 FTEs; FY2023: $12 million / 101 FTEs; FY2024: $9 million / 101 FTEs), a narrow slice of the company's broader federal footprint. On these service contracts, government-paid hourly rates ran a median of $43.56/hour, with 10th percentile at $32.28/hour and 90th percentile at $171.76/hour. The vendor reports zero subcontractor hours across prime service contracts, consistent with the company's full prime-delivery model and lack of identified subcontractor relationships in its contract award universe. The firm competes exclusively as a prime, holding 100% of awards in the source data (7,100 primes, zero subs), and does not function as a subcontractor to other federal primes.

Starkey's federal strategy is concentrated, specialized, and sole-source defended. The company supplies proprietary hearing aid technology and repair services to two primary customer organizations (VA VISN 19 and IHS) under long-term IDIQs and BPAs that lock in dominant market position through original-manufacturer repair-capability requirements and GSA Best in Class designation. Recent award velocity and delivery-order patterns confirm sustained federal engagement, but the portfolio's dollar concentration—$6.59 billion of $7.11 billion combined potential value flows through a single customer—creates strategic dependency on VA VISN 19 recompete outcomes.