What is SEWP?

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CEO Kimberly deCastro founded Wildflower International, Ltd., as a one-woman company in her Sante Fe home. Since that time, Kimberly deCastro has grown the government contracting company into a $100-million business. 

Wildflower International, Ltd., is part of the NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) program. SEWP (pronounced "soup") was established in 1993 to facilitate the procurement process of cutting-edge IT products for government agencies and government contractors.

SEWP offers multi-award acquisition contracts that enable agencies and contractors to obtain personal computers, laptops, servers, software, and other IT services. All prices are fixed and generally lower than those offered elsewhere. 

SEWP also provides support with installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of IT products. SEWP contracts are valid for 10 years, with a lifetime ordering limit of $20 billion. More than 100 small companies have acquired SEWP contracts.

The Facts behind Equal Pay Day

Notable Santa Fe business owner Kimberly deCastro leads operations at the IT firm Wildflower International, Ltd., the largest woman-owned business in New Mexico. For the past two decades, Kimberly deCastro has also been a champion of promoting workplace equality and reducing gender-based disparities in promotion opportunities and pay.

To highlight gender-based salary inequalities, the National Committee on Pay Equity publicly branded April 2 as Equal Pay Day. The date represents the extra weeks of full-time work a woman needs to complete to earn an income equivalent to the amount a man earns in one calendar year. The wage gap is even more profound for women of color. 

In the 23 years since the first Equal Pay Day, marked improvements toward gender-pay equality have occurred. Many companies have put transparency policies into place that allow employees and job candidates to have clear benchmarks for salary expectations. 

Further, several states have passed laws that reduce gender-based pay gaps. Notably, New Jersey and Minnesota now require all companies to record wage gap data.

Pojoaque Pueblo Acquires Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Land Management

The CEO of Wildflower International, Ltd. for more than 30 years, Kimberly deCastro leads a technology firm that is a certified Woman-Owned Business. Through partnerships with other companies, Kimberly deCastro helps to provide emerging technologies to the U.S. government and large corporations. 

Recently, Wildflower International, Ltd. helped a Native American community based in northern New Mexico acquire technology to aerially monitor its vast land holdings. With solar-powered drones manufactured by Silent Falcon Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Technologies, the Pojoaque Pueblo people can now map cultural sites, supervise its roaming bison herd, and improve fire-fighting and search-and-rescue efforts. The drones are equipped with infrared cameras and other sensors that allow real-time imaging.

In addition to providing monitoring services for the drones, Wildflower International, Ltd. also will provide training on operating UAS technology to members of the Pojoaque Pueblo. Meanwhile, the Wildflower team gains the benefit of conducting trainings in real-world terrain. Pojoaque Governor Joseph Talachy expressed his support for the Wildflower partnership, saying that it will help members of his pueblo gain needed skills for the jobs of tomorrow.

Wildflower Business Partnerships with Federal Agencies

Founded by business executive Kimberly deCastro in 1990, Wildflower International Ltd. is one of the largest woman-owned businesses in New Mexico. From its humble beginnings in her daughter’s bedroom, Wildflower has grown by leaps and bounds under Kimberly deCastro’s leadership, earning $239 million in annual revenue. Wildflower supplies Dell computers to some federal agencies.

The Department of Energy, which oversees the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has been a longtime Wildflower client. NNSA maintains two laboratories in New Mexico. Created through legislation in 2000, the NNSA’s mandate is to enhance national security using military applications, maintain the effectiveness of US nuclear weapons without explosive tests, reduce the dangers and threats of nuclear weapons of mass destruction, supply the US Navy with state-of-the-art nuclear propulsion, and respond to emergencies, nuclear or radiologic, in the US or elsewhere. 

Wildflower’s largest current client is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), created with the approval of President George W. Bush in 2002. Its mission is to coordinate with other government agencies to secure the nation’s borders and respond to emergencies. Cyberterrorism, aided by the fast-changing landscape of technology, is one of the agency’s key concerns.