Welcoming the stimulus

Welcoming the stimulus
By Richard Bammer/ RBammer@TheReporter.com
Posted: 03/31/2009 01:02:58 AM PDT

Not all federal economic stimulus money has been set aside to fix or replace aging sewers, outdated electrical grids and creaky bridges or to patch pot-holed highways and roads. Some of it will be earmarked for "economic development-type projects," said Mike Ammann, president of the Solano Economic Development Corporation.

He should know, since he was recently appointed to serve on the Bay Area Council Economic Institute's advisory board. In coming days and weeks, he and other board members will brainstorm on suggestions and proposals that, eventually, will lead to funding of economic-stimulus programs in all nine Bay Area counties.

"If there are some federal stimulus dollars out there, we'd like some," Ammann said Monday during an interview from his Fairfield office. Solano County, he added, often gets the short end of the financial stick and less attention when it comes to disbursement of federal aid.

"We're not going to be left off this time," he said. "I'm at the table. That's not going to happen this time."

But he cautioned that the advisory board's outlook likely will be for projects that boost the entire region's interrelated economies, not necessarily those of particular towns and cities.

Institute officials, part of the Bay Area Council, a private employers group, said earlier this week that they seek input from area business leaders and residents. At the behest of Dale Bonner, head of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, the organization will create a regional proposal to show how the Bay Area wants to spend the taxpayer money it receives. Submission deadline is April 24, and the region's final report is due to the state by June 1.

"The institute will be the conveyer -- the group will collect everything, then it'll go up to the state government, and, hopefully be endorsed, and, hopefully, we'll get a little more attention when it goes to Washington," Ammann explained.

Funded projects under the stimulus plan must fall into one of seven categories: transportation, water, energy/climate, workforce training and education, business development, science and innovation, or housing. Projects must provide short-term job creation and long-term return on investment.

Ammann noted that the Workforce Investment Board in Fairfield, which provides employers access to qualified workers and helps jobseekers with placement and training, is already in line to receive some stimulus money. Robert Bloom, WIB president, did not return a telephone call at press time.

Ammann said he is hopeful that Solano County's private sector and government agencies will "look closely at this opportunity to receive federal funding to jump-start economic development projects that will provide job opportunities and growth."

"What we are looking for are projects ... that will be competitive with other areas across the United States," he noted, adding that they may be special projects that affect Solano County but still enhance the economic health of the Bay Area. He cited projects related to the county's burgeoning biotech and pharmaceutical industries and "green, sustainable" businesses, such as wind and solar power companies.

"We need to come together as a region," said Ammann. "We'd be better off rather than competing with each other (as separate towns and cities), which is what we've done in the past."

At the institute's Web site, Sean Randolph, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, said, "The plan will be developed through an open, consultative process."

About $30 billion in taxpayer money will flow to the state, and then be dispersed to regions. Another $20 billion of discretionary money will be sent to California, as part of the federal stimulus package, he noted.

"These are critical times for Solano County and the Bay Area," Ammann wrote in an e-mail. "We are competing against other states for this funding and it is important we present a uniform plan to increase our chances for funding."

For more information about the economic institute and the regional economic recovery workplan, visit www.bayareaeconomy.org/recovery.