$2 Million for External Contractors at California Stem Cell Agency

California's stem cell research program next Monday will review the roughly $2 million it spends annually on outside contractors, but don't expect any fireworks.

The subject will come before the Governance Subcommittee of the agency's directors at a meeting scheduled only for one hour.

Since Bob Klein left as chairman of the $3 billion agency in 2011, the number of contractors and their cost have dwindled significantly.  In recent years, the Governance Subcommittee has rarely raised serious questions about the contracting.

The latest list of contractors and the size of their contracts has not yet been posted by the agency on its Web site. But here is a link to the most recent list that has been made public. It is from December of last year.

Also on tap is proposal to boost a contract this year with The Mitchell Group of Agoura Hills, Ca., from $249,000 to $345,000.  An agency memo said,

"The programmers supplied by Mitchell work on the CIRM Grants Management System and on the CIRM public website. Under CIRM 2.0 and the Strategic Plan, CIRM’s Grants Management System has needed extensive renovations to keep pace with the accelerated pitching machine. CIRM’s public website has also required renovations to display the new CIRM Funding Opportunities and to meet the requests for advanced navigation and graphics." 

The public will have a chance to listen to the meeting via a toll free audiocast. Interested parties can participate at teleconference locations in Oakland and La Jolla. More details can be found on the meeting agenda.