2004 E. R. "Dick" Alley Award Winner
James N. Edwards
 Mr.
James N. Edwards, Director of Contracting, Army Contracting Agency,
Fort Lewis, WA, has been selected by the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD)
Program to receive the prestigious E. R. "Dick" Alley Career Achievement
Award.
Mr. Edwards has actively supported the JWOD Program for over twenty
years at the Ft. Lewis Army Contracting Agency, first through custodial,
grounds maintenance and laundry contracts, and now as an advocate
pursuing innovative contracts for the JWOD Program. Contracts awarded
by his office currently provide employment for more than 400 people
with severe disabilities.
Mr. Edwards' hard work on a groundbreaking $17 million contract
enables JWOD employees to work within a Department of Labor-approved
journeyman training program in Installation Vehicle Maintenance,
which currently employs over 230 people with severe disabilities,
who earn an average wage of $17.85 per hour. These activities encourage
JWOD-participating nonprofit agencies to provide the Army with quality
services while at the same time providing individuals who have severe
disabilities an opportunity for high-wage employment.
Mr. Edwards continues to seek new opportunities for the JWOD Program.
In 2003, he awarded the Fort Lewis and Yakima Training Center Chemical
Latrine Service contract to a JWOD nonprofit agency. In 2002, with
the creation of the Army Contracting Agency, the Northern Region
Director sought Mr. Edwards’s expertise in crafting JWOD initiatives
for all Army installations in the northern half of the United States.
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