GMATS and Melville Hall

Can anyone with solid KP background offer thoughts on the closing of GMATS and RFP for replacing current Melville Hall operators?

I can’t say I’ll really miss GMATS. I enjoyed the classes but there isn’t any class that they offered that you couldn’t get anywhere else for less money. There were serious potential issues with their funding methodologies for some of the Navy Reservists taking courses there that could have gotten people in hot water and put them in a financial bind.

I seriously hope that the company that runs Delano (SODEXO I think) doesn’t take over Melville Hall. Before Delano took it over, the Seafarer canteen used to be an outside business run by two brothers and was as good any deli in town. The last time I was there (’09) it wasn’t bad but it took a long time to get to “not too bad”. When Delano first took it over it was as bad as the food upstairs. As a M/N I worked in Melville as well as several other catering halls out in town and I would have ranked Melville up there as just as good as the others but for a lot less money. My Mother-in-Law can attest to the less money part too since that is where my wife and I celebrated our wedding reception. My uncle-in-law still talks about what a great party it was

SODEXHO? A French company? Wow. Of course the operate a lot of cafeterias and restaurants in the States, too. They also have a lot of catering contracts offshore throughout the world. I can't remember who ran it when I was there. Rumor had it that the staff were members of the NMU, though.

NANA Services is the current Delano contractor not Sodexho.

http://www.nanaservices.com/quality.html

Current Food service. Contract bids are being sought. Nana on a month to month.

kpbaseballmom said:

http://www.nanaservices.com/quality.html

Current Food service. Contract bids are being sought. Nana on a month to month.

Click to expand...

But if you read the piece they allude to a Sodexho connection "Our partnership with Sodexho has given NANA Services, LLC the opportunity to benefit from the aptitude of a large company."

If you recall, SODEXHO, was a Marriott spinoff, bought by the French firm. NANA is an Alaskan Native American Indian firm that get special government preferences for contracts. So Nana is the prime contractor and SODEXHO does the work as a sub. The Alaskan native contracts have been under review. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/alaska-native/index.html
The RFP was due Sept 5, so a new firm could come in shortly when the contract is awarded.

Rumor is nobody has bid on the contract (for Melville) because it is too restrictive and includes 30 day termination clause.