Puerto Rico Firm Awarded $33.8 Million Army Dress-Shirt Contract
Kandor Manufacturing Inc. of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, secured a five-year, firm-fixed-price deal worth up to $33.8 million to supply green service uniform dress shirts, the Defense Logistics Agency said.
Kandor Manufacturing Inc., an Arecibo, Puerto Rico, apparel maker, received a contract worth up to $33.8 million to sew green service uniform dress shirts for the U.S. Army, as announced on war.gov.
The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award runs five years with no option periods and carries an ordering-period end date of July 27, 2031, according to war.gov. Fiscal 2026 through 2031 defense working capital funds pay for the work. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support in Philadelphia, the Pentagon’s chief supplier of food, fuel, medical goods and uniforms, ran the competition and received seven responses before selecting Kandor. The contract number is SPE1C1-26-D-0069.
Green service uniform dress shirts form part of the Army Green Service Uniform, the daily business dress the service began reintroducing across the force in recent years. A steady supplier for those shirts keeps clothing sales stores and recruit issue points stocked as soldiers replace worn garments. The award marks the first federal contract recorded for Kandor Manufacturing Inc.in the tracked database, setting the company’s initial benchmark within the Defense Logistics Agency portfolio. It lifts the firm’s 2026 contract total to $33.8 million.
Measured against the agency’s other 2026 business, the deal sits near the bottom of the range. The Defense Logistics Agency’s awards this year span a low of $9 million and a high of about $1.53 billion, according to war.gov. For an average reader, the contract shows how routine soldier gear reaches the field through commercial factories rather than government plants. Textile and apparel work of this kind supports manufacturing jobs in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory where the industry has shrunk sharply over past decades.
This has happened before. The Defense Logistics Agency awards uniform and clothing contracts on a recurring cycle, splitting demand among domestic manufacturers under Berry Amendment rules that require U.S.-made textiles for military clothing. Puerto Rico factories have long competed for such sewing work alongside plants on the mainland.
The next decision rests with the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support contracting office, which will place individual delivery orders against the agreement through the ordering period ending July 27, 2031. A date for the first delivery order has not been announced.
Military clothing production in Puerto Rico traces back generations, as happened before during earlier defense buildups. Garment plants on the island expanded through the mid-20th century as federal programs steered apparel work to the territory. Needle-trade employment ranked among Puerto Rico’s largest manufacturing sectors before tax-incentive shifts and offshore competition thinned the ranks. Contracts such as this one keep a slice of that trade tied to Arecibo, a northern coastal city once known for its textile and light-manufacturing base.
This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to Kandor Manufacturing Inc., Arecibo, Puerto Rico, in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $33,785,445. It is also the 22nd Department of Defense contract awarded in Pennsylvania during 2026. Because this is the first award to Kandor Manufacturing Inc., Arecibo, Puerto Rico recorded in the database, it establishes the company’s initial benchmark within the Defense Logistics Agency portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Defense Logistics Agency portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,000,000 and maximum of $1,525,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 6 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 29, 2026.
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