Yale Cordage Inc.

Yale Cordage Inc., a for-profit manufacturer based in Saco, Maine, supplies boat sling assemblies, marine rigging equipment, and specialized fiber rope products to the Defense Logistics Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a prime contractor on full-and-open purchase orders and indefinite delivery contracts, with no SBA set-aside designations on the majority of its prime awards.

Yale Cordage is a small business manufacturer operating from Saco, Maine, that competes predominantly on full-and-open (non-set-aside) vehicles, though a subset of its awards carry total small business set-aside designations on DLA Land and Maritime IDCs. The company operates through a subsidiary, I & I Sling, LLC, also a manufacturer of goods. Federal work spans primarily NAICS 314994 (Rope, Cordage, Twine, Tire Cord, and Tire Fabric Mills) and 333998 (All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing), with product service code concentration in fiber rope, cordage, and twine (228 awards) and deck machinery (148 awards).

Customer concentration is marked by a tight relationship with the Defense Logistics Agency, which accounts for roughly 75 percent of recent award count across two divisions. The Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime holds 151 awards valued at $4.7 million combined potential value, and Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Construction and Equipment holds 107 awards valued at $2.3 million. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks second by dollar value with 40 awards valued at $5.4 million combined potential value, driven by specialized mooring-line procurement for buoy operations. The Department of the Navy's Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command places 14 awards valued at $2.7 million. These four customer entities account for 84 percent of combined potential value. Representative prime work includes a $47,958.75 total small business set-aside delivery order from DLA Land and Maritime awarded February 5, 2025, for nine boat sling assemblies (NSN 2030017142200) to be delivered to the DLA Distribution Center in San Joaquin, California; a $215,000 total small business set-aside purchase order from NOAA awarded August 1, 2024, for 100 reels of 11/16-inch diameter nylon braid rope for moored weather buoys; and a $234,223 delivery order from NOAA awarded June 24, 2022, for 11/16-inch nylon rope with an extended delivery date modification.

Yale Cordage holds multiple single-award indefinite delivery contracts with DLA Land and Maritime, each carrying a $250,000 ceiling. Seven IDCs appear in the source, all established between May 2022 and May 2025, with five designated as total small business set-asides and two as full-and-open awards. These vehicles enable DLA to issue firm fixed-price delivery orders for boat sling assemblies and related maritime rigging products on an as-needed basis. Task orders under these IDCs range from sub-$5,000 micro-purchases to $83,265 delivery orders, with typical values between $5,000 and $40,000. Recent activity shows 24 awards in 2025 and 30 awards in 2022, declining to 13 in 2023 and 12 in 2024 before climbing again in 2025. The recompete window for the next twenty-four months carries minimal exposure: only one award with ultimate completion in that period, valued at $10 thousand.

Yale Cordage engages in subcontract work selectively. The source names two sub-awards: a mooring-line supply to Oceanetics Inc. on a passive water-barrier refurbishment project at Newport News Shipyard awarded September 18, 2025, and a mooring-line supply to Applied Physical Sciences Corp on a DARPA research project awarded February 2, 2024. These represent roughly 0.4 percent of the 450-award footprint and signal opportunistic sub engagement rather than a systematic sub strategy.

Combined potential value across the prime and sub portfolio is $20 million, with $13.3 million obligated (66 percent realization). Activity velocity has stabilized after a decline from 2022 highs; the recent three-year average (2023–2025) stands at roughly 16 awards per year. Yale Cordage's federal footprint is narrow in customer scope and highly product-specialized — boat slings, mooring lines, and fiber rope dominate the portfolio — positioning it as a niche supplier to DLA maritime logistics and NOAA buoy operations rather than a generalist defense contractor.

Rope Manufacturer and fabricator of rope assemblies.