Articles
State: Get Obama bucks now
DAYTONA BEACH -- There's a reason Sheryl Dickey got up at 6 a.m. Saturday to travel 242 miles from Fort Lauderdale to Bethune-Cookman University's Performing Arts Center.
Florida's $3.8 billion share of the federal economic stimulus package is stimulating indeed. A first-of-its kind seminar on how business owners might get a piece of the action drew about 500 business owners from throughout Florida to Daytona Beach. In 20 years of operation, Frank Patsche of Tyson Bolt and Supply, based in Tampa, said he's never seen government contracting opportunities like this.
The gargantuan amounts available -- consider that 1 billion seconds ago it was 1977 -- had Patsche working on his proposals Saturday night soon after he returned from Daytona Beach to his home in Tampa.
"The amounts that are coming up and down the pike are astronomical," said Patsche, who hopes to land contracts with the Florida Departments of Corrections, Education and Transportation.
And one-on-one face time with state department officials at Saturday's seminar convinced him he'd better start moving to get those contracts now.
"They called it a speeding train," Patsche said of the timeframe in whichthe state Department of Transportation plans to spend its stimulus money. "The (Education Department) said they would be getting their money and spending it in June and July. Same with the Department of Corrections."
President Barack Obama in February signed the $787 billion Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will get government money flowing to the states for the next three years. Some will come to Americans in the form of tax credits and loan fee forgiveness, but a good chunk of it will be for projects aimed at creating jobs and stimulating more economic activity.
Saturday, business cards were being exchanged in earnest.
"Times have been tough," said Fort Lauderdale's Dickey, who was there representing a coalition of minority builders in addition to her own company, Dickey Consulting Services.
In a general session that started the seminar Saturday morning, Florida's Economic Recovery Special Advisor Don Winstead showed the group some must-see Web sites to help access these Obama bucks.
"If you're a vendor who wants to do business with the government, this is the place to go," Winstead said, as the Federal Business Opportunities home Web site (www.fbo.gov) was projected larger-than-life above him.
He also promised the money flow would be transparent to all taxpayers. Florida has been selected to be one of 16 states the General Accounting Office watches over, which means Congress will get a report on stimulus activities every 60 days.
George Weinbel said he's not been getting much business lately for his Oviedo company Weinbel Sports, which designs, builds and repairs track and field facilities. But his invention that harvests water that rains on these facilities has him hoping for a contract with the Department of Environmental Protection. He said 3.25 million gallons a year of rainwater can be harvested for field irrigation or other purposes that would reduce the drawdown on the Floridan Aquifer.
"Most of our work has been private work," said Weinbel, whose company built the track and field for the 1984 Olympic Games. "Our time has finally come. People are finally understanding that we have a water crisis in Florida. A global water crisis."
