JCPS at roughly $2 billion across about 150 schools — one district at metro scale, not many small districts in parallel — runs a sub-tier specialty-trades and FF&E commissioning surface that sits underneath the general-contractor-prime and bond-advisory ceilings.

Start with the bond pipeline. JCPS issues School Building Revenue Bonds annually through the Jefferson County School District Finance Corporation — roughly a $60 million issuance in 2024, $70 million in 2025, and a 2026 issuance in the JCPS five-year facilities plan filed with the Kentucky Department of Education. Historically active architect and construction-manager primes include K. Norman Berry Associates, McCulloch Associates, JRA Architects, CMTA engineering, Messer Construction, Whittenberg Construction, and Calhoun Construction.

The Student Assignment Plan and West End Choice Zone capital tail runs through this decade. The multi-year SAP rollout cut long bus rides for West Louisville students by introducing closer-to-home Choice Zone schools tied to the planned reopening of newly constructed West End schools, including Grace M. James Academy and an additional West Louisville school under construction. The tail covers food-service, transportation, technology, custodial, and security across new buildings for years.

Transportation re-procurement remains active. The August 2023 first-day routing rollout encountered problems that cost about $300,000 in immediate refunds and overtime; a multi-month review followed; the 2024-25 school year reverted to hybrid manual-override routing; the software-vendor contract was terminated. The 2025-26 school year opened without major incident. Re-procurement remains active for school-routing software, driver staffing, fleet maintenance, and route auditing.

Superintendent Marty Pollio's contract was extended through June 30, 2027 by a 5-2 Board vote in August 2024 (Courier-Journal, Louisville Business First, WDRB). Pollio has said publicly he intends to serve the extension term and has not committed beyond 2027. The next superintendent search is a 2026-2027 Board-level event that will reshape JCPS procurement-channel relationships afterward.

Sub-tier scope splits into two families a single founder can run inside one firm or as sister entities. Family A is recurring specialty trades: data and low-voltage cabling refresh, security electronics (access control, IP video, intrusion), AED and first-aid resupply, athletic-equipment install (scoreboards, bleachers, gym dividers, basketball backstops, wrestling mats, weight-room re-deck), interior and exterior signage and wayfinding, CPSI-certified playground inspection and repair, gymnasium-floor refinish, fire-alarm and sprinkler inspection and test, kitchen-equipment preventive maintenance, locksmithing and door hardware, parking-lot striping, generator PM, and AV-system maintenance.

Family B is owner-side commissioning agent and FF&E coordinator work on the bond-project side. The commissioning agent verifies that mechanical, electrical, and building-envelope systems on a new or renovated school perform as specified at handoff and files measurement-and-verification reports with district facilities planning. The FF&E coordinator manages procurement, delivery, and install logistics for furniture, fixtures, lab equipment, smartboards, food-service equipment, and library furnishings. Neither role competes with the prime — both are owner's-representative roles paid on per-project fixed fee or hourly retainer.

Anchorage Independent School District is the second buyer worth mapping. It's K-8 only, a single school at 11400 Ridge Road with about 470 students. Anchorage residents attend JCPS high schools — typically Eastern. The procurement surface is narrow but the recurring-services demand is the same shape, and single-building economics suit a Louisville-resident multi-service local vendor.

The Archdiocese of Louisville runs about 45 to 50 Catholic schools across Jefferson and 23 surrounding Kentucky counties, with the majority Jefferson-resident. The Central Office of Catholic Schools at 3940 Poplar Level Road sets curriculum, insurance, and employment policy. Each parish and school runs its own capital and recurring-services budget. The eight Catholic high schools in Jefferson — Trinity, St. Xavier, Assumption, Mercy Academy, Sacred Heart Academy, DeSales, Holy Cross, and Presentation Academy — each operate independent capital and procurement; several carry endowments and capital campaigns active through 2028.

Add it together: JCPS (about 150 schools) plus Anchorage (1) plus Archdiocese Jefferson-resident schools (about 30 to 40) plus non-Catholic independent privates (about 10 to 15: Kentucky Country Day, Louisville Collegiate, Walden, Christian Academy of Louisville, Portland Christian) gives roughly 190 to 210 distinct school principals inside the county. JCPS alone supports a $300,000 to $700,000 book; the Archdiocese-plus-privates layer is the second leg that smooths revenue when JCPS rebid windows produce timing gaps.

Family A specialty-trade revenue per JCPS scope, illustrative working ranges. Data and low-voltage cabling refresh on a six-year district-wide cadence: $4,000 to $15,000 per school across 10 to 25 schools a year, or $40,000 to $375,000 annually from JCPS alone. Security electronics service and minor add: $1,500 to $8,000 per school annually across 40 to 80 schools. Athletic-equipment install and recertification: $2,000 to $25,000 per engagement across 15 to 30 schools a year. Signage and wayfinding refresh: $5,000 to $30,000 per engagement across 5 to 15 schools a year. Playground inspection and minor repair (CPSI required): $300 to $800 per school across about 80 elementaries. AV-system maintenance: $1,500 to $5,000 per school across 30 to 60 schools.

A founder running three to five Family A scopes simultaneously at the mid-range across JCPS alone clears $250,000 to $500,000 in annual JCPS-channel revenue. Adding Archdiocese, Anchorage, and private overflow lifts that 25 to 40 percent to $300,000 to $700,000 in total Family A revenue.

Family B FF&E and commissioning revenue per JCPS capital project. FF&E coordination on a new elementary: $50,000 to $120,000 (procurement specification, delivery scheduling, install supervision, punchlist). On a new high school or major renovation: $80,000 to $200,000. Commissioning agent on a new elementary: $35,000 to $80,000 (mechanical-electrical-plumbing plus envelope verification and handoff documentation). On a major capital project: $80,000 to $180,000. A founder running four to eight Family B engagements a year clears $250,000 to $700,000 from Family B alone — if the active capital-project list supports the volume.

Combined founder firm at the middle of the capital tier: Family A at $250,000 to $400,000 plus Family B at $150,000 to $300,000 lands at $400,000 to $700,000 total firm revenue. Owner take-home in a services firm with one to three W-2 staff and modest overhead runs roughly 25 to 40 percent of revenue, depending on whether the founder uses subcontracted technicians or salaried staff with benefits — $100,000 to $280,000 owner take-home. The low end holds with JCPS alone; the high end requires Archdiocese, Anchorage, and private overflow.

Capital deployment ($300,000 to $700,000): two to three service vehicles (van, pickup, small box truck) $80,000 to $140,000; tools and test equipment for Family A $30,000 to $80,000; commissioning instrumentation and project-management software $20,000 to $50,000; workers' comp, general liability, cyber, and professional E&O $25,000 to $60,000 annually; bonding capacity for $100,000 to $500,000 project sizes is routinely accessible after two to three years of completed work and clean personal credit; working capital $80,000 to $150,000 to float the 60 to 90 day public-sector AR cycle.

• JCPS Buildings & Grounds and Operations Division

  School-district operations

  Institution

  Runs custodial, maintenance, energy management, environmental services, and recurring-services contract administration.
• JCPS Facility Planning and Construction unit

  School-district capital owner

  Institution

  Owns the capital bond project list and gates commissioning-agent and FF&E-coordinator engagements.
• JCPS Procurement Services / Purchasing Department (VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Rd)

  Public-agency procurement

  Institution

  Runs the RFP and IFB cycle and enforces KRS 45A plus 702 KAR 3:135 compliance.
• JCPS Information Technology and Nutrition Services

  School-district functional procurement

  Institution

  IT runs sub-tier data-cabling and technology-refresh contracting; Nutrition runs kitchen-equipment PM and install on new and renovated buildings.
• Anchorage Independent School District (11400 Ridge Rd)

  Single-school K-8 district

  Institution

  About 470 students; sole-source-friendly procurement on sub-threshold scopes; the superintendent and Board are listed at anchorageschool.com.
• Archdiocese of Louisville Office of Catholic Schools (3940 Poplar Level Rd)

  Catholic-school central office

  Institution

  Policy-setting office; introduces vendors to the eight high schools and roughly 30 to 40 K-8 principals individually; does not contract on their behalf.
• Walbridge, Whittenberg, Calhoun Construction, Messer Construction Louisville, Abel Construction

  Construction-management primes

  Out-of-county

  Top-layer construction managers with a $5 million-plus bonding floor; sub-tier subcontracts flow downstream from these primes on bond-funded projects.
• K. Norman Berry Associates, McCulloch Associates, JRA Architects, CMTA, Sherman Carter Barnhart, Studio Kremer, CMW, Tate Hill Jacobs

  Architect-prime bench

  Institution

  Historically active JCPS architect-of-record bench. FF&E and commissioning-coordination engagements typically flow through the architect's owner-side specifications.
• Stock Yards Bank, Baird, Stifel, Raymond James, Hilltop Securities, PFM

  Bond issuance and financial advisory

  Out-of-county

  Capital-gated bond-counsel and financial-advisor layer; not the founder's candidate.

The primary lane is a trades operator paired with a commissioning lead. A founder with a mechanical, electrical, or IT-cabling background, paired with a credentialed commissioning agent (LEED AP, ACG, BCxA, or NEBB) inside the same firm. The trades operator carries Family A specialty-trade revenue on the recurring annual cycle; the commissioning lead carries Family B per-project FF&E and commissioning engagements. The two revenue lines smooth each other across bond-cycle timing.

A second path is a returning-home construction-management professional. A Louisville-native former construction-manager project manager, owner's-representative project executive, or facilities-planning professional who spent five to ten years at Messer, Walbridge, Whittenberg, or Calhoun (or at one of the architect-prime firms) and is bringing back the JCPS, KDE, and KRS 45A procurement vocabulary plus personal references inside JCPS Facility Planning and the Archdiocese Office of Catholic Schools.

The third path is an existing services operator — a Louisville-resident specialty-trades firm, an AV-integration firm, or a Family A vertical at small scale — adding the FF&E and commissioning leg, or vice versa. Cleaner SBA underwriting because the existing revenue base supports the working-capital line.

Sequencing into the buyer set. JCPS Purchasing runs a formal RFP / IFB cycle under KRS 45A. A first-time vendor faces a six- to 18-month relationship-building period before winning an initial scope. Sub-tier specialty trades reward incumbency. Start with Anchorage and two or three Archdiocese schools to build a reference book before the first JCPS bid. The Archdiocese's decentralized contracting model gives roughly 30 to 40 K-8 principals plus eight high-school principals individual procurement standing.

Spread the revenue base across multiple buyers (Anchorage, Archdiocese, privates, JCPS) so that any superintendent-change shock affects only the JCPS portion of the book. Pollio's contract expires June 30, 2027; the next superintendent will carry discretionary procurement-architecture authority. That is the single largest 2027-2028 risk to this candidate.

• — Current names for the JCPS Superintendent, COO, Director of Facilities Planning, Director of Procurement Services, Director of Buildings & Grounds, Director of IT, and Director of Nutrition Services for 2026.
• — The exact JCPS school count (we use roughly 150 — confirm against the KDE District Profile).
• — The 2026 active District Facility Plan, the bond-funded project list, and named architects and construction managers; the KDE BG-1 and BG-4 filings for 2024 through 2026.
• — JCPS 2024, 2025, and 2026 bond-issuance sizes and the corresponding EMMA / MSRB offering documents.
• — The current JCPS Purchasing RFP / IFB calendar, recent sub-tier specialty-trade award history, current DBE Participation Plan text, and recent prime-contract DBE-utilization reports.
• — JCPS West End Choice Zone construction list — Grace M. James Academy status and the additional West Louisville school under construction.
• — JCPS FY26 Adopted Budget recurring-services line-item detail and transportation re-procurement carve-out size.
• — Anchorage current Superintendent, Board, facility status, and recurring-services contract list.
• — Archdiocese of Louisville Office of Catholic Schools current director, exact Jefferson-resident school count, and central-vs-decentralized contracting policy on Family A scopes.
• — Which Louisville-resident specialty-trade incumbents currently hold the JCPS data-cabling, security-electronics, athletic-equipment, signage, playground, AV, and kitchen-equipment-PM books.
• — The Kentucky DBE and Louisville Metro DBE certification pathway and timeline; the CPSI playground-inspection certification path and current Kentucky-resident certified-inspector count; the JCPS commissioning-agent prequalification list.

Tonight, this week, this month — in that order. Each step produces a yes/no or a number, not a deeper understanding.