McKonomics

How Much Stimulus Funding is Going to Your County?

Back on February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law.  This act is commonly referred to as the stimulus act.  If you are like me, you probably wonder how the nearly $780 billion is being spent.  Well, here is a great website by ProPublica which allows you to search by county and find information about stimulus spending in your area.

The information is listed by state and county and broken down by unemployment rate, total stimulus spending and spending per capita. Each county has a list of project spending as well.  I think this is a very informative website.  I encourage you to review your local information in order to be informed how your tax dollars are being spent.

Cash for Clunkers

Last week the Senate passed a bill called “Cash for Clunkers.”  If you have not yet heard of this bill and wonder “could it really mean the government giving cash to people to turn in their clunker car?”  You are correct.

The program is designed to offer $3,500 or $4,500 cash rebates to NEW car buyers who turn in older, less fuel-efficient models.  The idea being that this will jump-start the car market.  The proposed program is limited to $1 billion and expires in October or November.

Stimulus Funds: USDA Loans

As I have written recently, the stimulus money is creating many changes and opportunities for organizations.  One of my goals is to look for ways that your organization can benefit from these changes.  One of these changes has to do with USDA loans.

I recently met with BVFR & Associates, LLC to learn about an old loan program, which is getting a bit of refreshing by the stimulus plan.  The stimulus plan has allocated $2 billion for loan guarantees of 60% to 90%. This safety factor allows lenders to reduce interest rates by up to 150 basis points.  By guaranteeing loans up to $25 million, this program is a “hand up” not a “hand out.”

Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) these Guarantee Loan programs reach further then the agency's name would indicate.  The Nixon Administration originally funded these programs to help the economic development of "rural areas."  A "rural area" is defined as any city or township with a population of less than 50,000.  This definition basically includes all counties in Central Pennsylvania and most of the United States.

Stimulus Funds: Training Programs

This week I attended a Stimulus Training Program. Scott Sheely of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board presented on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. (a.k.a. The Federal Stimulus Money).

Like many other communities across the country, Lancaster County received federal stimulus funds. They received $1,876,000. Of this amount, 75% must be spent on training and all the money must be spent by June 30, 2010.

Lancaster County’s goal and strategy is to improve the skill level of the local workforce. They intend to use the stimulus funding to fill gaps and connect elements of the existing system.

What does all this mean to your business? The Stimulus money requires the county to focus on pre-employment training (both hard and soft skills). This may include: forklift driving, heavy equipment operation, administrative support, IT training, etc. They do this by issuing certificates to people who go through the Ready2Work Program.