Steward Machine Co Inc.

Steward Machine Co Inc., operating as Earle Reducers, is a precision metal fabrication and industrial machinery manufacturer based in Birmingham, Alabama, that operates as a prime contractor on defense and civil works infrastructure projects. The company is an SBA-certified HUBZone small business organized as a Subchapter S corporation, competing predominantly through full-and-open procurement and Total Small Business set-asides on large-scale civil infrastructure work anchored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Earle Reducers' core capability is specialized metal fabrication for lock, dam, and water infrastructure equipment—miter gates, tainter gates, emergency bulkheads, valve assemblies, turbine components, pump parts, and related mechanical assemblies. The company operates two complementary lines of business. First, it executes large-value definitive contracts and delivery orders for infrastructure fabrication and installation, with representative work including a $22.2 million Starved Rock Tainter Gate Fabrication contract awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers in September 2023 (completion September 2028); an $11.8 million Meldahl Locks and Dam Miter Gate Fabrication delivery order under the Corps' $90 million metal fabrication IDV (completion November 2026); and a $16.8 million Coffeeville Lock Lower Miter Gates fabrication and delivery contract awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers in March 2026 (completion July 2029). Second, it fills routine component orders from the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime across dozens of small purchase orders for turbine plates, valve seats, shaft assemblies, bearing sleeves, springs, gaskets, and related machine shop parts—the vendor holds a $250 thousand DLA IDV for component procurement and has filled over 197 individual purchase orders from DLA Land and Maritime alone.

Customer concentration is pronounced and skewed toward civil infrastructure. The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers accounts for 39 awards with $376.7 million in combined potential value—73% of total potential value across the vendor's footprint. The top five customers by award count (DLA Land and Maritime, DLA Troop Support Hardware, Army Corps of Engineers, DLA Aviation, Department of the Army) cover 81% of recent awards, but the dollars concentrate in the Corps of Engineers work. Within the Corps, the Huntington District, Nashville District, Mobile District, and New Orleans District manage the majority of the large tainter-gate and miter-gate delivery orders.

Earle Reducers holds three primary indefinite delivery vehicles with the Army Corps of Engineers: a $160 million Metal Fabrication, Refurbishment, and Installation Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) awarded November 2022 (completion November 2027), designated Total Small Business set-aside; a $90 million Metal Fabrication, Refurbishment, and Installation IDV awarded August 2022 (completion August 2027), Total Small Business set-aside; and a $50.55 million Indefinite Delivery Contract for Fabrication and Rehabilitation of Lock and Dam Structural Operating Equipment (Huntington District) awarded August 2021 (completion May 2026), Total Small Business set-aside. These vehicles are the launch pads for task orders; under them, the company has executed delivery orders ranging from $10 thousand minimum-guarantee amounts to multi-million-dollar fabrication projects. The $250 thousand DLA Land and Maritime IDV is the baseline for routine component procurement.

Activity has grown sharply in the recent period—27 awards in 2022, 13 in 2023, 22 in 2024, 50 in 2025, and 9 through March 2026—driven by Corps of Engineers delivery order volume and routine DLA Land and Maritime purchase-order traffic. The source data covers 439 total awards since 1980, with combined potential value of $511.9 million, of which $245.1 million has been obligated (48%). Thirteen awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry $41.9 million in combined potential value and face recompete.

Earle Reducers operates primarily as a prime contractor (421 of 439 awards, 96%), with minimal subcontractor activity. The vendor has performed fabrication work as a sub to Booz Allen Hamilton on a Defense Logistics Agency task order (March 2025) and to Integration Innovation Inc. on specialized valve assembly fabrication work (multiple modifications and funding adjustments through 2022), providing machine shop and steel fabrication services under those primes.

The vendor's category concentration reflects its mission: Turbine and Turbine Generator Set Units Manufacturing (72 awards), Fabricated Structural Metal Manufacturing (34 awards), and Mechanical Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing (25 awards) dominate the NAICS mix. PSC codes track similarly—Steam Turbines and Components (71 awards), Valves Nonpowered (33 awards), and Power and Hand Pumps (31 awards). Earle Reducers' firm fixed-price posture and Birmingham-based manufacturing footprint position it as a specialized, cost-conscious source for both large fabrication programs and component replenishment within the Army Corps and DLA ecosystems.

MACHINING AND FABRICATION. Locks and Dams, Steel Mill Equipment, Moveable Bridges.