James Madison University has been working hard in the area of Supplier Diversity for the past few years. The efforts, however, have been primarily focused on typical goods and services purchased by the university. As have most institutions with large construction projects, we have realized our bottom line numbers relating to supplier diversity are not going to move significantly if we don't have SWaM vendors on our construction projects.
JMU recently met with representatives from Nielsen Builders, Inc., a local construction company that is frequently awarded projects on campus, to consider methods that JMU and Nielsen could partner on towards increased SWaM sub-contracting opportunities. While we are fortunate to have some local Small firms, the area does not support many woman- or minority-owned companies in the construction trades. Nielsen is specifically interested in competitive and qualified SWaM vendors in the following categories: Mechanical, Drywall, Electrical, Framing, and Site Contractors. They are also interested in SWaM suppliers that can offer construction materials such as stone, brick, mortar, lumber, steel, and a wide variety of other building materials. If you are a SWaM vendor that falls into these categories please visit the following site and complete the Sub Qualification Form in order to ensure that you receive information on Nielsen solicitations.
http://www.nielsen-inc.com/bidsubs.html
JMU also keeps a SWaM sub-contractor listing and provides it to all of our typical primes on a regular basis. If you would like to be listed in this SWaM sub-contractor listing and you are a vendor that supplies construction related goods or services please e-mail claytojp@jmu.edu (company name, contact name, phone number, fax number, e-mail address, website address, and construction areas of interest - ie. flooring, painting, etc.). JMU hopes to have future outreach events to help sub-contractors make contact with our primes; being on this list will ensure your company receives notification of such events. Before submitting your company name to this list please consider whether your company is willing and able to travel to the Harrisonburg area for construction projects. JMU plans to meet with other prime contractors to further our efforts in increasing SWAM sub-contractor participation. We hope this will be a beneficial addition to our program.
Thanks to everyone that has worked with JMU over the past year. We wish everyone a very happy holiday and best wishes for the New Year.
