Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC

What it reported doing in 2024

The u.s. Department of energy (doe) awarded the management and operating contract for fermi national accelerator laboratory (fermilab) to fra, llc, effective january 1, 2007-december 31,2025. Fra builds on universities research association's 50-year record of performance in the management and operation of fermilab; and the university of chicago's leadership of argonne national laboratory (anl) since its founding. The fra team brings resources, collaborations, and best practices to address the laboratory's challenges and opportunities. Fra supports the laboratory's long-term vision and total commitment to discovery, the doe scientific mission, and ensuring our nation's continued preeminence in particle physics. Presently, fermilab's primary ten-year goal is to establish a world-leading neutrino science program led by the long-baseline neutrino facility and deep underground neutrino experiment (lbnf/dune). Lbnf/dune advances the particle physics project prioritization panel (p5) plan by establishing the first phase of this facility with a new beamline and a far detector sited deep underground in South Dakota in the 2020s. As fermilab steps into this new role as host lab for lbnf/dune, the organizational structure is adjusting to support the scientists, students, technicians and engineers who are and will be working at the sanford underground research facility (surf) in South Dakota. The laboratory has established a new fermilab division, the South Dakota operations division, which is based full-time at surf to provide the same range of operational and support services that exist at fermilab's main campus in batavia, il. In addition, fermilab's major initiatives include leading one of the five doe national quantum information science (qis) research centers. The superconducting quantum materials and systems center (sqms) has the concrete and ambitious goal to develop, build, and deploy the first quantum computer at fermilab. The sqms center and other fermilab efforts are producing high-impact results in quantum computing, networking, and sensing and growing collaborations with universities, laboratories, and industry leaders in qis.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 98.5%; rating input score 98
• Program expense ratio: 98.5%; rating input score 99
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.78; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings