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| N.J. Firm Wins Bid at Prison |
| By The Time Tribune |
| Published: 12/19/2005 |
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Two years after the Lackawanna County Prison Board decided to privatize the jail's canteen, an Edison, N.J., company is in line to get the contract. The board voted unanimously last week to recommend the county commissioner's award the commissary services contract to Keefe Commissary Network. Keefe was one of three companies that responded to a request for proposals to run the canteen, which is now operated in-house by jail personnel. Keefe would pay the prison a commission of 39.3 percent, or about $301,000 a year based on annual commissary sales of $765,000, according to an analysis prepared by Assistant Warden David M. Langan. That's $14,000 more than the best of two proposals submitted by Oasis Commissary Services, of Atlanta, and $33,000 more than a proposal from Canteen Correctional Services, Franklin, Mass. “The main thing we are trying to do is get it to the point where we don't have to worry about it,” Mr. Langan said. The commissioners are expected to approve the contract at their Dec. 20 meeting. The Prison Board initially voted in December 2003 to privatize the canteen. The canteen, or commissary, is a service that sells food and personal items to prisoners. Profits must be used to benefit the inmates. The request for proposals went out earlier this year, when the board also sought proposals for the prison's food service contract. In October, the commissioners awarded the food service contract to the current provider, Aramark Corp., which beat out two competitors. As part of the contract, Keefe will provide three pairs of socks, three pairs of underwear and three T-shirts to each of the approximately 4,000 inmates booked at the jail each year, Mr. Langan said. Each inmate will also receive an admission kit that includes a cup, washcloth and various toiletry items. “This is all stuff we wouldn't have to buy out of county money,” Mr. Langan told the board. Commissioner A.J. Munchak said Keefe, like its two competitors for the contract, has agreed to use local vendors as much as possible to fill commissary orders. |
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