UC Davis Research Funds:
From June 2005
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Biggart adds that in the past this reclusive academic approach – the antithesis of multidisciplinary and dynamic research leading to profitable ventures – was an awkward fit for more bottom-line driven outside consultants and subcontractors.
Rich Shrout, estimator and project manager at American Engineering & Asphalt in Rocklin, says the company has been a UC Davis vendor for 15 years. “We’ve probably had a couple million dollars in projects over that time, and the average project comes in around $100,000,” he says. “It’s a public agency so it’s low bid and they seem to make a point of seeking vendors in a 70- to 80-mile radius from campus.”
Campus architect Robert Strand heads the school’s Architects & Engineers department, which manages the design and construction of new and remodeled campus facilities. He notes, “For our purposes, we consider San Francisco local for projects in the $50 million to $100 million range.”
Though a search of nine recently awarded contracts at the the Architects & Engineers website turns up construction subcontractors in Southern California and as far off as Lubbock, Texas, six of the projects are being led by local firms.
According to Strand, project monies are funneled via a rather convoluted process that could match up nicely in any Orwellian bureaucracy. The department of research, for example, lands a grant to build a new lab and the office of resource management and planning decides how the grant will be distributed, finalizes agreements and makes a schedule.
Getting Other Fingers in the Pie
Other fingers may need to be in the pie, such as the UC office of the president, UCD’s purchasing department, as well as architects and engineers.
Add to those layers the fact that many projects have combined funding sources – grants, endowments and gifts such as the Mondavi Center, with its $25 million gift joined with $25 million to $30 million from the state – and it can be difficult to assess just how much money ends up with subcontractors and vendors in the Sacramento Metro Market.
Continued...
Rich Shrout, estimator and project manager at American Engineering & Asphalt in Rocklin, says the company has been a UC Davis vendor for 15 years. “We’ve probably had a couple million dollars in projects over that time, and the average project comes in around $100,000,” he says. “It’s a public agency so it’s low bid and they seem to make a point of seeking vendors in a 70- to 80-mile radius from campus.”
Campus architect Robert Strand heads the school’s Architects & Engineers department, which manages the design and construction of new and remodeled campus facilities. He notes, “For our purposes, we consider San Francisco local for projects in the $50 million to $100 million range.”
Though a search of nine recently awarded contracts at the the Architects & Engineers website turns up construction subcontractors in Southern California and as far off as Lubbock, Texas, six of the projects are being led by local firms.
According to Strand, project monies are funneled via a rather convoluted process that could match up nicely in any Orwellian bureaucracy. The department of research, for example, lands a grant to build a new lab and the office of resource management and planning decides how the grant will be distributed, finalizes agreements and makes a schedule.
Getting Other Fingers in the Pie
Other fingers may need to be in the pie, such as the UC office of the president, UCD’s purchasing department, as well as architects and engineers.
Add to those layers the fact that many projects have combined funding sources – grants, endowments and gifts such as the Mondavi Center, with its $25 million gift joined with $25 million to $30 million from the state – and it can be difficult to assess just how much money ends up with subcontractors and vendors in the Sacramento Metro Market.
Continued...
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