DNR Nursery Labor at Mason State Nursery

The State of Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded a nursery labor services contract to Second Nature, LLC, a Florida-based contractor, through an Invitation for Bid procurement process. The contract, identified as ORC38171, is valued at $2.26 million and covers services performed at the Mason State Nursery located in Topeka, Illinois. The initial contract term runs for 24 months commencing January 1, 2024, with three optional renewal years available at the State's discretion, for a maximum total contract duration of ten years. Second Nature, LLC was selected as the lowest-priced responsive and responsible bidder among competing vendors.

Under this contract, Second Nature, LLC provides comprehensive labor services including hand harvesting of approximately 7,000 pounds of tree, shrub, prairie forb, and prairie grass seed annually; hand weeding of approximately 285,790 lineal feet of seed beds a minimum of three times yearly during April through June; and harvesting, grading, sorting, counting, and packaging of approximately 2 million seedlings annually with a minimum processing capacity of 100,000 seedlings per day. All work is performed Monday through Friday during normal business hours at the Mason State Nursery, with the contractor responsible for employee compensation, payroll administration, hiring and termination decisions, personal protective equipment provision, and compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local labor laws, including prevailing wage and migrant and seasonal agricultural worker protection requirements.