LOCAL company Advance Management Inc. is making headway in California with the awarding of service contracts for Camp Pendleton and various military facilities within the San Diego area.

AMI recently received word from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) South West of a preventative maintenance task order of services on specified heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The value of the contract is for $385,166.00 over the base and two option years. Advance Management also received notification of a $55,000 per year task order for pumping and treatment services at facilities in the San Diego area to include 29 Palms.

Monty McDowell, president of Advance Management, said they bid for a multiple service award contract for NAVFAC in San Diego along with two other companies, and all three were awarded a contract in September to start on Oct. 1.

“What that meant is there was $100 million in a pot and they issued task orders and all three companies are considered qualified. Each one of those three puts a price tag on it and the lowest one wins. It’s very simple but it’s very complicated to be one of them – but once you are, you’re in the club,” he said.

The companies bid on each new service contract as needed by each military facility. Contract awards generally end up being evenly spread. Thus, this could mean some $33 million in contracts to Advance Management over three years. There are currently 16 task orders up for bid and they just got the second one at the Marine base.

“These task orders could be for work anywhere in the six western states which could be any bases. Right now, we are doing grease trap pumping at various areas in San Diego and this one is for Camp Pendleton for an air-conditioning maintenance contract,” McDowell said.

He is elated about the contracts and so are his employees.

“We’ve gone head to head with mainland companies and have been successful in the mainland,” McDowell said, attributing his company’s success to the work they do on Guam at federal installations such as Navy Hospital in Agaña Heights.

“Because the work that we’ve performed on Guam has been so good, those evaluations – which are in a repository in the federal government – can be accessed by contracting authorities anywhere in the world. So when you put in a bid, they look at these things and look at what other contractors say about them,” he said.

McDowell said Advance Management has submitted bids for the other task orders and are keeping their fingers crossed that they receive more contracts.

“There are a lot of people who’d like to see us be successful. It’s a great reflection on the people of Guam,” McDowell said.