Colorado Springs is among the most military-concentrated metropolitan areas in the United States. Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, the U.S. Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, and Cheyenne Mountain Space Operations Center together represent one of the deepest federal cleaning contract pipelines per capita in the country. The civilian federal building market (downtown courthouse, the VA Medical Center, Colorado Springs federal field offices) is real and consistent, but it represents a fraction of the total addressable federal cleaning spend in the Pikes Peak region. Any BSC entering this market without understanding the five military installations is working with incomplete information.

Federal Building Inventory and Contract Volume

Major federal installations in the Colorado Springs MSA include:

1. Peterson Space Force Base: home of Space Operations Command; administrative, operational, and support facilities across several hundred acres
2. Schriever Space Force Base (26 miles east): satellite operations command; secure and hardened facilities
3. Fort Carson: home of the 4th Infantry Division; large Army installation with extensive administrative, medical, and support building inventory
4. U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA): academic and athletic campus north of Colorado Springs with 12,000+ acres
5. Cheyenne Mountain Space Operations Center: hardened underground command facility

Civilian federal sites include the U.S. District Courthouse and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Colorado Springs. The GSA Inventory covers civilian federal space. Aggregate federal cleaning spend (including all military installations) is estimated at $40–$90 million/year, one of the highest in the Mountain West region.

Solicitations post on SAM.gov through AFICC (Air Force/Space Force), Army Contracting Command, and Army Installation Management Command contracting offices in addition to GSA and VA.

SCA Wage Determinations for El Paso County

SCA Wage Determinations for El Paso County, CO are at sam.gov/wage-determinations, filtered by Colorado / El Paso County. Occupation code 11150 base rates typically run $15.50–$17.50/hr. Colorado’s state minimum wage was $14.42/hr in 2024 and rises annually; commercial janitor wages in Colorado Springs run approximately $14–$16/hr. The CONUS H&W fringe of $5.36/hr per DOL Wage and Hour Division applies. Military installation contracts have their own occupational wage structures in performance work statements; verify each solicitation’s exhibit. See the wages breakdown for the Colorado Springs MSA.

SAM.gov Activity Across Military and Civilian Channels

Filter SAM.gov with NAICS 561720 and S201, place of performance Colorado, El Paso County. For USAFA, Fort Carson, Peterson, and Schriever, also search under AFICC and Army Contracting Command contracting offices with broader facility support PSC codes. Colorado Springs consistently generates ten to twenty active federal solicitations across all channels, among the highest densities per capita in any non-top-10 U.S. metro.

SBA Set-Asides and Small Business Programs

El Paso County has HUBZone-designated tracts in portions of south and east Colorado Springs. Confirm at the SBA HUBZone map. Colorado Springs’ enormous veteran and active-duty community makes SDVOSB certification among the most productive federal business development investments a local BSC can make.

• 8(a): sole-source up to $4.5M; active set-aside pipeline across all five installations
• HUBZone: south Colorado Springs tracts; 35% employee residency compliance
• WOSB/EDWOSB: active for NAICS 561720
• SDVOSB: one of the strongest SDVOSB markets in the Mountain West; Peterson, Schriever, Fort Carson, and USAFA all generate set-aside solicitations; search DSBS

Past Performance and Entry Pathways

Colorado Springs offers more federal subcontracting entry points than almost any non-top-10 metro in the country. A new BSC can subcontract on Fort Carson installation services, USAFA custodial work, or Peterson administrative building cleaning within 12–18 months of SAM registration. For SDVOSB-certified firms, direct set-aside competition at the smaller Peterson or Schriever administrative building level is achievable within 12–18 months of certification. Cheyenne Mountain is a separate category: only personnel with Top Secret/SCI clearances can access the facility, and a janitorial firm pursuing work there needs a fully cleared and polygraph-tested cleaning staff: a multi-year build from scratch.

Federal Bid Mechanics in the Colorado Springs Market

1. Active SAM.gov registration with current UEI and CAGE code
2. SCA compliance under FAR 52.222-41; El Paso County WD posting
3. E-Verify enrollment for contracts at or above $150,000
4. GL + WC insurance; Colorado workers’ comp for janitorial runs approximately $1.80–$2.60 per $100 payroll per the Colorado Division of Labor and Employment
5. DBIDS enrollment for military base access; Secret clearance for Peterson and Schriever operational areas; TS/SCI for Cheyenne Mountain

Reference FAR Part 52 and DFARS for military solicitations.

Local Conditions Affecting Federal Bid Math in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs sits at 6,035 feet elevation, which affects equipment performance: auto-scrubbers and wet-vac systems lose efficiency at altitude, and HVAC systems in base buildings run differently than at sea level. Winter snow and ice create floor-care cost uplift from October through April; budget $0.10–$0.16 per sq ft/year above baseline for winter floor maintenance at high-traffic military administrative buildings. High altitude also affects outdoor crew performance in summer heat; heat stress protocols remain relevant in July and August even at Colorado Springs’ elevation.

A Tradeoff: Five Installations, Five Security Frameworks

Colorado Springs’ five major military installations each operate under a different security framework, access protocol, and contracting authority. A BSC that wins facility services work at Peterson, Fort Carson, and USAFA simultaneously is managing three distinct DBIDS enrollment processes, three base vehicle registration systems, and three sets of performance work statement requirements: each with its own contracting officer’s representative and CPARS evaluator. The administrative overhead of multi-installation military facility management is real; a BSC who builds around one installation before expanding to a second has a more manageable risk profile than one who tries to enter all five simultaneously. Use the account profitability auditor to model the administrative overhead cost of each additional installation before committing proposal resources, and use the bid stress-test to pressure-test margin at each installation independently.

Primary Sources

• SAM.gov: Contract Opportunities (NAICS 561720)
• SAM.gov: SCA Wage Determinations (Colorado)
• GSA Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties
• SBA HUBZone Eligibility Map
• FAR Part 52: Solicitation Provisions
• Colorado Division of Labor and Employment: Workers’ Compensation
• DSBS: Dynamic Small Business Search
• BLS OEWS Metropolitan Area Wage Data

Review the companion commercial bid template for Colorado Springs, CO. Build the multi-installation capability statement with the bid generator and size the labor model for each installation with the production rate calculator.

By the Opora Editorial Team · Last updated: 2026