diff --git a/build-maven-jars.py b/build-maven-jars.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9a6d1147a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-maven-jars.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+# script to build jars for maven central
+import sys
+import subprocess
+import os
+
+# action should be either 'install' (for local test)
+# or 'deploy' (for deployment to maven central).
+# if current version is SNAPSHOT, will only be deployed
+# to sonatype's staging servers.  otherwise, will be
+# deployed to maven central
+action = sys.argv[1]
+
+# projects for which we should build jars, in order
+# will be prefixed with 'com.ibm.wala.'
+projects = [
+    "util",
+    "shrike",
+    "core",
+    "cast",
+    "cast.java",
+    "cast.java.ecj",
+    "cast.js",
+    "cast.js.rhino"
+    ]
+
+for proj in projects:
+    full_proj = "com.ibm.wala." + proj
+    print full_proj
+    os.chdir(full_proj)
+    mvnCmd = "mvn -f mvncentral.xml clean " + action
+    subprocess.check_output(mvnCmd, shell=True)
+    os.chdir("..")    
+