The Lighthouse For The Blind

The Lighthouse For The Blind, a St. Louis-based nonprofit AbilityOne organization, manufactures and supplies medical equipment sets, surgical instruments, first aid kits, and forestry management products to federal agencies as a prime contractor (100% of recent awards), competing on full-and-open basis across defense and civilian customers with no set-aside restrictions. The organization operates from its facility in Olivette, Missouri, where it assembles, labels, and packages medical components into approved configurations while providing employment opportunities for individuals who are legally blind.

The Lighthouse For The Blind's federal footprint concentrates heavily on defense medical supply — the Department of the Army Medical Command anchors the portfolio with $698.6 million combined potential value across 261 awards, followed by the Defense Health Agency at $231.2 million across 33 awards. Together, these two customers represent approximately 95% of combined potential value. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Medical places a high volume of smaller orders (157 awards, $11.8 million combined potential value) for utility first aid kits and surgical knife blades, while the Department of Agriculture Forest Service drives significant transaction volume through regional offices (469 awards across multiple regions, totaling $7.4 million) for tree marking paint and related forestry supplies. Recent capability work includes a $241.6 million Indefinite Delivery Contract with the Army Medical Command (awarded September 2024) for medical sets, kits, and outfits procurement and assembly, a $1.4 million delivery order from the Army Medical Command for custom water sets and kits, and recurring delivery orders from the Defense Health Agency for tactical combat medical care, ground ambulance, chemical decontamination, and air ambulance medical equipment sets valued between $4,900 and $780,000 per order.

The Lighthouse For The Blind holds the $241.6 million Army Medical Command IDC as its primary vehicle, with 121 task orders generating $41.5 million in combined potential value. A single-award Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA V797P2057) with an unnamed agency carries 1,878 task orders but only $810 thousand combined potential value, indicating high transaction volume at minimal per-order magnitude — likely forestry paint or small medical supply items ordered repeatedly across regional Forest Service locations. The vendor also operates under a Blanket Purchase Agreement (GS06F73591) with 491 task orders, a Blanket Purchase Agreement with the VA Strategic Acquisition Center for male catheters (single-award BOA, zero-ceiling framework agreement active through July 2028), and a Federal Supply Schedule contract (GS07F5916P) with 76 task orders.

Activity has declined modestly — 41 awards in 2022 to 34 in 2024, with only 12 awards recorded in 2025 and 3 through March 2026. This reflects the maturity of the vendor's core IDIQ relationships and task-order-heavy execution model rather than a loss of customer confidence; the $241.6 million Army Medical Command IDC renewal in September 2024 confirms continued access to the primary vehicle. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $234.7 million of the $1.01 billion combined potential value (23% execution rate), typical for indefinite-delivery platforms with long option periods and flex requirements.

The Lighthouse For The Blind's capability portfolio spans three product families: medical equipment sets and kits (ground ambulance, combat medic, tactical combat medical care, chemical decontamination, air ambulance, and tool kits for Army and Defense Health Agency customers); surgical and medical instruments (detachable surgical knife blades for Defense Logistics Agency); and utility first aid kits (for Army and DLA). Forestry work includes tree marking paint and tracer paint for the USDA Forest Service across eight regional offices. The vendor manufactures goods on-site without named major subcontractors; its sub-award footprint is minimal (5 sub-awards of 4,923 total), all routed through Cardinal Health 200, LLC as prime contractor for medical-surgical equipment or supplies, representing less than 0.1% of award volume. This subcontracting posture reflects The Lighthouse For The Blind's position as a manufacturing prime rather than a systems integrator or consulting-led contractor.

The organization's primary NAICS codes are 339112 (Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing), with secondary NAICS in hand and edge tool manufacturing, paint manufacturing, and paint distribution (reflecting forestry product scope). PSC concentration mirrors this — Hospital Furniture, Equipment, Utensils, and Supplies (1,376 awards), Paints, Dopes, Varnishes, and Related Products (854 awards), and Medical and Surgical Instruments, Equipment, and Supplies (853 awards) dominate the portfolio. The top-five customer agencies by award count cover 24% of total awards but concentrate into a smaller set by dollar value, with Army Medical Command and Defense Health Agency alone representing 95% of combined potential dollars.