Today, in a move slated to save $8 million, the Florida Department of Corrections signed a contract with ARAMARK Correctional Services to provide food services to the state's prisons.
Services will begin to be phased into the state's prison system beginning in July 2008, with all facilities brought up to speed by September 2008, according to a press release the Florida DOC website.
Currently, kitchen facilities are run by correction officers and other DOC workers. As ARAMARK takes over, 280 will remain in the kitchens for security purposes, while the remainder will be moved to other security positions in their respective places of employment, according to the press release.
"We look forward to working together in this new partnership with the State of Florida," said ARAMARK president Norm Miller. "This is an outstanding opportunity for ARAMARK to create economic value for the DOC."
ARAMARK currently provides over 350 institutions with over 235,000 inmates with food, laundry, and commissary services. The contract with Florida will add some 70,000 new inmates across 55 prisons.
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Good approach in lede, but it needs some tightening and contains a slight fact error. No contract was signed; simply an intent to award a contract. A technicality but one to be aware of.
You could get around that process-heavy distinction by simply writing it this way: "Today, in a move slated to save $8 million annually, the state announced it's preparing to turn over operation of nearly all prison cafeterias to a private food services company."
Overall, nice organization and I appreciate the active writing style.
Here's some additional suggestions and observations:
1) You need to note somewhere in the story, particularly when using supplied quotes, that the information came from prepared remarks, or some other phrase that tells readers you didn't physically interview these people. Usually, just one reference is sufficient in a story this size.
2) Missing completely is any indication how much taxpayers are spending on this experiment (the estimate was $58 million a year but the agency made reporters call to get that information).
See you Monday, dave w.
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