My NC city starting to see stimulus money

[angee_is_mad]

This is my hometown of Greensboro, which is the 3rd largest city in NC and it went for Obama. Actually the whole county (Guilford)did.
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/08/17/article/stimulus_money_flowing_into_guilford
GREENSBORO — The money has put teenagers to work and put more food on family tables.

And it has put shovels on the ground for at least one construction project.

After six months of paperwork, nearly $20 million worth of federal stimulus money has begun to funnel into Greensboro. Countywide, it’s up to $128 million, state calculations show.

“Now the public will really start to see the money flowing and people be put back to work,” said Adam Fischer, Greensboro’s acting transportation director.

The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, approved in February, provided $6.3 million to Guilford County for food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The figure is about four times higher than the $1.6 million that the state first expected the county to receive.

Starting in the spring, the stimulus act increased the monthly benefit by $80 for a family of four, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program.

The Guilford County Workforce Development Board, a regional job training agency run through the city, was among the first local organizations to get money for new programs.

This summer, the board put more than 434 young people into jobs with the stimulus money, said Steve Jones, assistant director for the Workforce Development Board. The young people, ages 16 to 24, worked at jobs throughout the county for $7.25 to $8 an hour.

And this month, the board will send about 15 people to GTCC to learn how to weld — another stimulus-funded program that is providing job skills training for adults.

As for the city, staff members have been prepping the required paperwork before they can spend stimulus money on programs and construction projects.

The city has begun grading the site of a new bus maintenance center. The $16.8 million project was funded by local, state and federal funds, including $5.4 in stimulus money. The new center will replace the one downtown, Fischer said.

During the next three months, the city expects to begin other stimulus-funded activities, including a homelessness prevention initiative and an energy efficiency program.

“You don’t really ever get a big fat check. You ask for the money as you spend it,” said Dan Curry, acting director of the housing and community development department.

Meanwhile, Greensboro has applied for money for other projects and programs. They include a request to build a fire station and another to add police officers.

“There will continue to be federal grants, and there will be more competitive grants — and it’s constantly updating,” said Cathy Akroyd, spokeswoman for the N.C. Office of Economic Recovery and Investment, which oversees federal stimulus money as it flows into North Carolina.

County Manager Brenda Jones Fox and Guilford County internal auditor Martha Rogers, who tracks stimulus funds for the county, did not return phone calls.




Now those damn teabaggers can see what stimulus money can do. Now if we can just get this health care reform thingy passed we will be in business.
FYI, Senator Hagan lives in GSO and she will be voting for health care reform with a public option. She will be afraid not to vote for it.
Hell, even burr is not going as batshit crazy about the public option as some other repubs.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/17/768249/-Burr:-Public-option-okay-if-you-leave-private-sector-alone

and they say Obama can't win NC again. Well watch out bitches because the silent majority (NC Obama voters) will be in full force in 2012!!!

[babylonsister]

1. Thank you! Pack sand, naysayers. It's happening, rec'd! nt

[angee_is_mad]

2. Fired up and Ready to go

and don't hear anybody complaining about that stimulus money now.

This is what will happen with health care reform. Once it actually happens and becomes a reality in regular folks lives everybody will be on the socialist train, even the birthers, deathers and other F ers.:sarcasm:

[babylonsister]

4. We 'just' need to get it passed. What a coup that would be! nt

[rosesaylavee]

3. I work online for a construction website

and from what I can glean from what I see every day, there will be lots of construction projects starting this month and thru the end of the year nation-wide. Mostly public projects but hopefully that will spread eventually into private developments too.

[angee_is_mad]

5. It's not alot

but its helluva lot more than we had before.

The main thing is for us not to throw our hands up in the air and say FUCK IT! That's what the repubs want, because that's the only way they can win.
Disenfranchise the progressives and scare the hell out of the moderate and Obamicans and they have a chance.