By Light and Copper River form Copper Lights federal IT joint venture
By Light Professional IT Services and Copper River Government Solutions have launched Copper Lights, a joint venture formed to pursue federal IT, cybersecurity, engineering and mission-support contracts. The venture's initial target customers are the Department of War and the US Space Force, with a brief covering cyber, communications, infrastructure, simulation, enterprise networking and end-to-end IT delivery.
Copper Lights was established under the US Small Business Administration's mentor-protégé programme, with McLean, Virginia-based By Light serving as mentor and Chantilly, Virginia-based Copper River GS as protégé. The structure allows both firms to compete for set-aside contracts while presenting a combined technical profile to prime contracting officers.
The partnership
John Kilpatrick, vice president of space operations at By Light, said the company looks for small business partners that extend its own capability footprint. "With their strength of experience in areas like network engineering and infrastructure, Copper River was a natural fit," he said.
Ronald Allen, vice president for business development at Copper River's IT, Cyber and Professional Services group, said the joint venture gives federal buyers a partner with the agility of a small business alongside deep technical depth. Copper River GS is part of the Copper River Family of Companies, which is owned by the Native Village of Eyak, a federally recognised Alaska Native Tribe. That tribal ownership qualifies Copper River for certain 8(a) and Alaska Native Corporation contracting preferences under SBA rules, a significant procurement advantage in the federal market.
No contract awards, vehicle values, headcount figures or revenue targets were disclosed in the announcement.
Market context
The federal IT services market has grown steadily on the back of Department of Defence modernisation budgets, with agencies accelerating investment in zero-trust security architectures, cloud migration and space-domain systems. The Space Force, established in 2019, has been particularly active in standing up new contracting vehicles to attract non-traditional and small business technology suppliers, and competition for those opportunities has intensified as established defence integrators and mid-tier IT services firms seek footholds in the sector.
The SBA mentor-protégé model has become a well-worn route for pairing large prime contractors with small or disadvantaged businesses. It allows the combined entity to bid on contracts that either firm could not comfortably pursue alone: the protégé gains past-performance credentials and managerial support, while the mentor gains access to set-aside award channels. Scrutiny of the programme has increased in recent years, with the SBA and Government Accountability Office periodically reviewing whether agreements deliver genuine capability transfer or function primarily as bid-vehicle arrangements.
Regulatory and procurement backdrop
Cybersecurity compliance will be central to any work Copper Lights pursues for the Department of War and Space Force. The Department of Defence's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification framework, currently in its CMMC 2.0 iteration, requires contractors to demonstrate compliance at varying levels depending on the sensitivity of the information handled. Achieving and maintaining CMMC certification is a meaningful barrier to entry, and the combined entity's emphasis on cybersecurity and enterprise networking suggests it will need to demonstrate certified posture to compete effectively on larger awards.
The venture has not named any specific contract vehicles or task orders it intends to pursue. Observers will watch for early wins on vehicles such as SEWP VI, GSA IT Schedule 70 successors, or Space Force-specific indefinite-delivery contracts as indicators of commercial traction.