The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spends roughly $2 billion per year on contracts. Most of that money flows to scientific, IT, and professional services firms. If your business operates in any of those categories and holds a relevant small business certification, CDC is worth a serious look.
This guide covers what CDC actually buys, which NAICS codes appear most often in their awards, and exactly how to get your business in front of the right people.
What CDC buys
CDC's mission is disease surveillance, outbreak response, and public health research. Its contracting budget reflects that. The agency spends heavily in a few repeating categories.
Scientific and technical consulting (NAICS 541690) is one of the largest. CDC contracts out epidemiology support, public health program evaluation, laboratory science, and health communication research. These contracts can run from a few hundred thousand dollars for a focused study to $20 million or more for multi-year program support.
IT and software development (NAICS 541512) is the second major category. CDC operates data systems that track disease surveillance across all 50 states, and those systems need constant development, security work, and maintenance. Contracts here range from under $1 million for application development to large multi-year IT modernization awards.
Testing laboratory services (NAICS 541380) round out the top three. CDC contracts with commercial labs for specimen testing, quality assurance, and reference laboratory support. These tend to be smaller contracts, but they renew frequently and create ongoing relationships with the agency.
Beyond these three codes, CDC also buys training and education services, translation and language access services, printing and publishing, logistics support for emergency response operations, and administrative services.
Set-aside opportunities at CDC
CDC operates under HHS (Department of Health and Human Services), and the agency has a formal small business program. CDC uses all of the standard federal set-aside designations: 8(a), HUBZone, Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
HHS as a whole has a strong track record on small business goals. The department routinely meets or exceeds its congressionally mandated small business prime contracting targets. That matters for you because program officers at CDC feel institutional pressure to award to small businesses, not just route everything to large primes.
CDC also participates in subcontracting plans. When a large prime wins a CDC contract, they are typically required to commit a percentage of the work to small and diverse subcontractors. Getting on the subcontracting team of an established CDC vendor is often faster than competing for a prime contract directly.
Registration and the vendor ecosystem
You cannot receive a federal contract without an active registration in SAM.gov. If you are not registered, start there. The registration is free and takes about one to two weeks to activate. Your SAM.gov profile is where you list your NAICS codes, business size certifications, and capabilities.
Once registered, the practical sequence is:
Get your certifications recognized at the federal level. For 8(a), apply through SBA.gov. For WOSB or EDWOSB, self-certify in SAM.gov or use an SBA-approved third-party certifier. For SDVOSB, register through the VA's Veteran Small Business Certification program. HUBZone certification is administered by SBA. Having active federal certifications in SAM.gov is what triggers visibility when CDC contracting officers search for set-aside vendors.
Search USASpending.gov for CDC award history. Filter by awarding agency (CDC), NAICS code, and contract type. Look at what has been awarded in the last two to three years. You will see which firms are winning, what dollar amounts are typical for your service area, and which contracts are coming up for recompete. A contract that was awarded three to four years ago at a base period plus options is often within 12 to 18 months of recompete.
Search SAM.gov for active CDC opportunities. Use the Opportunities section and filter by NAICS code and set-aside type. Sign up for email notifications so new solicitations hit your inbox the day they post. CDC solicitations often have short response windows, especially for smaller awards under the simplified acquisition threshold.
The CDC Small Business Office
CDC's small business program falls under the HHS Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). The HHS OSDBU is the office that advocates for small business inclusion in agency contracting, reviews agency small business goals, and assists small businesses in understanding procurement opportunities.
You can reach the HHS OSDBU through the official HHS website. The office maintains a directory of small business specialists assigned to each HHS operating division, including CDC. When you contact them, lead with your NAICS codes, your certification type, and a brief statement of your relevant past performance. They are not a sales channel, but they can point you to the right contracting officers and flag upcoming opportunities that match your profile.
CDC procurement itself is handled through the CDC Procurement and Grants Office (PGO), located in Atlanta. The PGO publishes contracting officer contact information on active solicitations. For market research ahead of a solicitation, program offices sometimes hold industry days or accept capability statement submissions. Watch the SAM.gov forecast and CDC's acquisition forecast, which the agency publishes annually on its website, for planned procurements in the coming fiscal year.
One practical tip for a first contract
Target the Simplified Acquisition Threshold. Contracts under $250,000 go through a faster process, and CDC is required to set aside these awards exclusively for small businesses when there is reasonable expectation that at least two small businesses can compete. Your first CDC contract is more likely to come in at $50,000 to $150,000 than at $5 million.
Look for task orders on existing governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) like GSA Schedule, NASA SEWP, or NIH CIO-SP4. CDC uses multiple-award contracts heavily, particularly for IT and professional services. Getting on one of these vehicles first puts you in a pool CDC can draw from directly, without competing against the entire market every time.
Once you are on a vehicle, send a brief capability statement to the relevant CDC program office. Keep it to one page: what you do, your NAICS codes, your certifications, and two or three examples of relevant past performance with dollar values and client names. Program officers pull from capability statements when they are writing a market research memo before a solicitation drops.
The CDC is a relationship-driven agency. The vendors who win recurring work tend to be ones who showed up at industry days, responded thoughtfully to requests for information, and performed well on smaller initial awards. Start small, deliver, and build from there.
