Contracts Officer

Jessica Ridge serves as a Contracts Officer for the State University of New York at Cortland, where she manages the acquisition lifecycle for mission-critical goods and services supporting academic excellence and institutional infrastructure. In her role, she ensures compliance with state and federal procurement regulations while aligning purchasing decisions with SUNY Cortland’s strategic priorities in STEM education, clinical training, and facility modernization. She primarily handles commercial printing and publishing contracts, overseeing the procurement of instructional materials, research publications, and campus communication products that directly support teaching, learning, and student engagement. Jessica maintains collaborative relationships with a broad network of commercial printers and publishing vendors, many of whom specialize in high-volume, high-quality print production for educational institutions. Her contracting approach emphasizes reliability, turnaround efficiency, and adherence to accessibility standards for printed educational materials. She works closely with vendors who demonstrate capacity for consistent delivery, quality control, and compliance with copyright and institutional branding guidelines, fostering long-term partnerships grounded in performance and accountability. Jessica’s procurement patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her awards issued under non-set-aside conditions. She does not currently utilize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, instead prioritizing market-wide competition to ensure the best value and operational efficiency for the institution. This approach aligns with SUNY Cortland’s broader strategy to maximize procurement transparency and leverage economies of scale in high-volume commodity categories. Her primary NAICS focus is on commercial printing (323111) and book printing (323117), reflecting her specialization in procuring academic textbooks, lab manuals, research reports, and institutional publications. She possesses deep expertise in print specification standards, color fidelity, paper stock selection, and digital-to-print workflow integration, ensuring that all materials meet the technical and pedagogical demands of a modern university environment.