Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Contractor ended up biting off more than it could chew
When the State of Alaska put 10 of its cleaning contracts out to tender, JJG clearly impressed the decision-makers and was awarded eight of them - only to hand back three because it didn't have the resources to service all eight.
Now the previous contractor - Reach- is hoping to step into the breach by winning back those three contracts that it had lost.
Reach, which held the contracts for 20 years, is a non-profit organisation that assists and employs people with developmental disabilities. It is Juneau's fourth largest employer. And according to the Juneau Empire, even with a 15% 'procurement preference' from the state, Reach's bid hadn't been competitive enough to win the tender.
Reach Executive Director Millie Ryan said her organisation plans to rebid on janitorial contracts for the State Office Building, Dimond Courthouse and 3rd floor of the Capitol building.
"We'll be taking a look at what we did before, but we need to make sure that whatever we put in is going to cover our costs," she said. "We will make it the most competitive bid that we can make it."
Millie said most who worked at the state offices were able to find other employment after the contract ended at the beginning of the month."We were able to absorb people into some of our other janitorial contracts and we worked really closely with the people at the Juneau Job Center," she said.
"We also looked at it as an opportunity to find them jobs outside of Reach."
The winning bidder on the contracts, JJG Cleaning Services, had bid on 10 contracts for custodial services and won eight of them. Andy Mills, a spokesman for the Department of Administration, said JJG decided to terminate three of the contracts "due to workload and staffing issues.
"The contracts hadn't been out to bid in 20 years because of the state's employment programme and disability preference, which allowed the contract with Reach to be exempted from the procurement process. The preference allows the state to give extra consideration to businesses that are owned by or are employing people with disabilities.
Andy said that while the long-standing contract with Reach was valued, the competitive bidding process had to be reinstated, saying: "While we cannot answer for previous administrations, this administration has a strong focus on cost savings and best value resulting in the first competitive bid in recent memory for janitorial services in Juneau-area state offices."JJG will provide custodial services on the contracts until a new contract can be awarded.
18th July 2013