NIH gives Anchorage's Olgoonik $5.1 million in three uncompeted contracts

The National Institutes of Health awarded Anchorage-based Olgoonik General LLC $5,131,614 across three contracts, none competed, all for work at its Bethesda, Maryland campus.

The largest, worth $4,172,874, funds a year of preventive maintenance on industrial chillers, variable frequency drives and cooling towers at NIH's Central Utility Plant, running through Sept. 3, 2027. A second contract, worth $739,501, covers refurbishment of cage and rack washer equipment control piping. A third, worth $219,239, funds a laboratory renovation. Two are 8(a) sole source with one offer each.

Olgoonik General is a subsidiary of Olgoonik Corporation, the village corporation for Wainwright. It holds Small Business Administration 8(a) certification through Dec. 21, 2030. The program sets aside work for disadvantaged firms.

The chiller maintenance work falls under a five-year sole-source contract NIH awarded in 2024. That contract carries a $24,996,000 ceiling, with $9,083,737 obligated so far.

The Government Accountability Office has urged tailored oversight of the 8(a) provisions Alaska Native corporations use to win federal contracts. Wainwright resident Hopson has said the resulting work is "done internationally and nationally, and not in the community." Kevin Berry, a University of Alaska Anchorage economist, offered a different measure, saying 8(a) revenue funds dividends reaching roughly 200 Alaska communities each year.