Aug. 28, 2006 – A contract has been executed with the firm of Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services LLC to provide third-party fiduciary services to the local Education Department. Government House announced that the contract–which has already been approved by the U.S. Education Department–was signed Friday by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull.
The contract is worth $7.8 million, according to a release from Government House, and will be executed over a 32-month period. During that time, the firm will oversee grants awarded by the federal government to Education, and the Department of Human Services, and the firm will perform a host of other administrative duties including inventory management, reporting, record keeping and payroll distribution.
With the agent in place, the territory will also see the release of approximately $23.3 million in awarded funds that were not released by the federal government for Fiscal Year 2004. According to a release issued Monday by Alvarez & Marsal, Education anticipates that another $32 million in federal funds will soon be available once the firm sets up shop in the territory.
The local government was required to bring on a third-party fiduciary agent last September–after the federal government found that "insufficient" progress had been made on a compliance agreement entered into between the local and U.S. Education Departments.
Since then, the quest to find a company has dragged on for nearly an entire year, amidst months of negotiations and rumors that the contract was awarded to the firm of a candidate on one of the gubernatorial tickets. While the rumors turned out to be false, the name of the firm selected as the third-party fiduciary–along with the names of the three other companies that bid on the project–had not, until last week, been released by government officials.
However, in a story done on Aug. 2, the Source reported that Alvarez & Marsal was chosen last March as the third-party fiduciary–despite recent claims made by government officials that the contract was still in the "negotiation stages" (See "Education Contract Awarded to 'Non-Politician' After All").
According to the firm's press release, Alvarez & Marsal, founded in 1983, is a leading independent global professional services company, with representatives based in a various locations around the world. The firm's services include performance improvement, crisis and interim management, business consulting, and creditor and tax advisory services.
In 2003, Alvarez and Marsal "made history" as the first corporate and restructuring firm to be hired by a "troubled public school district" to implement "crucial" operational and financial reforms, the release said.
Information on when the firm will be up and running within the territory was not available.
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