Conti Federal Wins $49.9 Million Army Contract for Ellsworth Shelters

ByRichard Miniter

First Published: July 27, 2026, 1:18 PM ET

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — Conti Federal Services LLC, an Orlando-based defense construction firm, won a $49.9 million Army contract to design and build environmental protection shelters in South Dakota, as announced on war.gov.

The firm-fixed-price award covers design-bid-build construction at Ellsworth, South Dakota, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 6, 2028, according to war.gov. The Army solicited bids over the internet and received four offers. Fiscal 2026 military construction and defense funds totaling the full award value were obligated at the time of the award.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, serves as the contracting activity under contract number W9128F-26-C-A046, according to war.gov. The work sends a mid-size sum into military infrastructure at Ellsworth, a base tied to the Air Force bomber fleet in western South Dakota.

The award marks the third contract for Conti Federal Services in 2026, lifting the company’s total federal contract value for the year to $262.9 million, according to war.gov. It ranks as the 12th Department of Defense contract awarded in Florida during the year. The figure falls short of the company’s record award of $169.1 million.

For the Army portfolio, the contract sits between the year-to-date minimum of $9.1 million and the year-to-date maximum of $8.4 billion, according to war.gov. The award was one of nine Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 27, 2026.

Contractors, subcontractors and local trades in and around Ellsworth stand to benefit from the two-year build. The obligation of the full sum at award reduces the risk that funding lapses stall construction, a common friction point on federal projects. Taxpayers carry the cost, and the fixed-price structure shifts the risk of overruns onto the contractor rather than the government.

For the average reader, the contract signals steady federal spending on defense construction, which supports skilled-trade jobs and regional suppliers. Design-bid-build projects channel money through local labor markets during the construction window, often years before any strategic payoff.

This has happened before. Conti Federal Services has collected multiple defense awards through 2026, and the Army Corps of Engineers routinely issues environmental and construction contracts across its districts. The Omaha district oversees projects spanning several plains states, making Ellsworth work part of a recurring pipeline rather than a one-off.

The Army Corps of Engineers will oversee performance and manage delivery through the projected November 2028 completion date. No further decision milestones tied to this award have been announced.

Military construction at remote plains outposts stretches back more than a century, as happened before. Ellsworth Air Force Base opened in 1942 as Rapid City Army Air Base, training bomber crews during World War II, and was renamed in 1953 after Brig. Gen. Richard Ellsworth died in a crash. The base later anchored the nation’s Minuteman missile fields during the Cold War. Each expansion drew federal dollars and construction crews to the South Dakota prairie, and the base endured a 2005 round of base-closure scrutiny before remaining a fixture of the region’s economy.

This contract represents the 3rd contract awarded to Conti Federal Services LLC, in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $262,980,942. It is also the 12th Department of Defense contract awarded in Florida during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Conti Federal Services LLC, whose record stands at $169,105,820, it is notable within the Army portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Army portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,051,490 and maximum of $8,402,489,648. Overall, this award was announced among 9 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 27, 2026.

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