Federal contracting data shows a company with negligible government business a year ago has, since President Donald Trump‘s return to office, secured deals worth over $26 million — with a ceiling that could reach $100 million.
Event Strategies, a Virginia-based events firm, has signed a series of federal contracts in rapid succession, according to documents reviewed in the System for Award Management database. The 26-year-old company had received what appeared to be roughly $50,000 in government contracts over the prior decade. The recent contracts represent a structural departure from that history, not an incremental growth.
The firm’s ties to Trump‘s political orbit are direct. Cofounder Tim Unes was listed as stage manager for the January 6, 2021, rally at the Ellipse. Megan Powers Small, now the company’s chief of staff, was named on rally permit paperwork as “Operations Manager for Scheduling and Guidance.” Justin Caporale, described as the Event Strategies CEO, was listed as a project manager for the same event.
The Contract Pipeline
The contracts are concentrated around America 250, the federal commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The US Semiquincentennial Commission — a bipartisan body established in 2016 — cut ties with Precision Strategies, an event planning group founded by Obama-era staffers, in early 2025. Event Strategies was subsequently hired as the replacement.
By September 2025, the company had signed a $5 million contract for work tied to Titans of the Sea, an event commemorating the Navy’s 250th anniversary. Weeks later came a $2.1 million deal for “AMERICA 250 – EVENTS.” In early February, the firm signed an additional $333,084 contract with the General Services Administration for “FREEDOM 250 DESIGN AND CONTENT SUPPORT SERVICES.” The broader GSA contract carries a potential ceiling of $100 million over 15 years.
According to HigherGov, a federal contracting tracking tool, Event Strategies was the only bidder on eight of the 11 contracts the platform tracked for the company — a pattern that sits in tension with standard competitive procurement norms. White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the report that “there is a proper federal competitive bidding process, and the White House expects all agencies to comply with it,” referring further questions to the General Services Administration. The GSA did not respond to a request for comment.
Political Optics
The America 250 project has drawn scrutiny independent of the contracting questions. Large banners tied to the commemoration have appeared across federal buildings in Washington, DC. One displayed outside the Department of Justice pairs a large image of Trump‘s face with the tagline “Make America Safe Again.” The DOJ described it as a celebration of “250 years of our great country.” California Governor Gavin Newsom called the banner “beyond parody,” citing what he characterized as a pattern of “dictatorship-style monuments.”
Separately, banners outside the Department of Education included the likeness of Charlie Kirk, the deceased Turning Point USA cofounder who had publicly called to abolish the department. Whether Event Strategies designed or installed any of these specific banners could not be confirmed. Neither the DOJ nor the Education Department responded to requests for comment on the matter.
Photo by Idean Azad on Unsplash
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