University of Virginia Foundation Awards Construction Bid to W.M. Jordan Company for Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing Facility

Virginia-based contractor to build 60,000 square foot, state-of-the-art research facility in Prince George County, Va.

RICHMOND, VA., NOVEMBER 16, 2011 – The University of Virginia Foundation is pleased to announce that W.M. Jordan Company has been awarded the bid for building construction, interior fit out and site development of the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing’s (CCAM) new, 60,000 square foot facility in Prince George County, Va. The University of Virginia Foundation has overseen the design of the facility and will manage the construction phase. Upon completion of the facility, the Foundation will maintain ownership and will lease the property to CCAM.

Work is expected to begin immediately and should be complete in August 2012. The project was made possible by grants from the U.S Economic Development Administration and the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, as well as a Recovery Act Bond from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Under CCAM’s roof, best-in-class manufacturers will collaborate with accomplished faculty and students from Virginia’s top research and teaching institutions to perform advanced manufacturing research in two priority areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems. The facility will house computational and large-scale production labs, as well as open production space for heavy equipment and surface coating processes, including a thermal spraying machine, a directed vapor deposition machine, integrated data acquisition systems and a thermal conductivity measurement system.

“CCAM is a game-changer for manufacturing in this country, and we’ll prove that when research begins this fall at our member universities,” said David R. Lohr, president and executive director of CCAM.  “W.M. Jordan Company is an experienced firm with an impressive track record and we look forward to working with them to make our vision a reality.”

Headquartered in Newport News, Va., with a regional office in Richmond, W.M. Jordan Company is a full-service construction business with more than 50 years of industry expertise.  Its clients represent health systems, senior living communities, colleges and universities, public school systems, places of worship, corporations both large and small, developers and municipal, state and federal government. The company’s portfolio includes more than 1,100 projects with a value in excess of $10 billion.

“CCAM is an exciting organization with an opportunity to make a tremendous impact in the manufacturing industry,” said John R. Lawson, II, president and CEO of W.M. Jordan Company. “We are excited to call them a client, and look forward to collaborating with them to build a top-notch research facility.”

Collaboration at CCAM between best-in-class manufacturers and top university researchers promises to accelerate the transfer of laboratory innovation to new “production-ready” solutions for factories worldwide. For more information, visit www.ccam-va.com.

About the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing
CCAM is a research-based collaboration between the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University and manufacturing companies worldwide. Manufacturers join CCAM as members and guide research with university faculty in two focus areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems. CCAM is building a 60,000 square foot, state-of-the-art research facility in Prince George County, Va., adjacent to Rolls-Royce’s jet engine components plant. For more information, visit www.ccam-va.com.

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Contact:
Christian Munson
CRT/tanaka for CCAM
(804) 675-8151
cmunson@crt-tanaka.com