March 15, 2016

******FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****** Contact: Anthony Hughes Public Information Officer [email protected]

State Construction Agencies Merge – Create New Department CHEYENNE, Wyo. – In an effort to streamline services and refine operations, Wyoming legislators have approved a bill creating a new department to oversee all state construction. Created under Senate File 0092, the new State Construction Department will merge the School Facilities Department (SFD) and the Construction Management Division from the Department of Administration and Information. Construction Management will continue to oversee the construction and renovation of state buildings, while SFD will retain responsibility for the building, upkeep and modernization of K-12 schools. Delbert A. McOmie, director of SFD, discussed the key advantages of merging agencies. “These agencies have always operated separately,” he said. “Now they can come together and share expertise, best practices and resources. Putting them under one roof should be a big win for everybody.” The State Construction Department will be led by a new director appointed by Governor Mead and approved by the Legislature. The director will be responsible for ensuring consistent policies and standards while streamlining services and overall operations. “As I understand, the goal of the merge is to streamline services,” McOmie commented. “So I don’t see us reinventing the wheel, just tweaking certain systems to maximize efficiency.” McOmie said the agencies would start merging July 1. -end-