Robert P. Casey Jr.

Minority-Owned Small Businesses Taking Full Advantage of ARRA

Guy Dunn, a Drexel Hill resident, was recently awarded over $300,000 for an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) contract to install digital television convertors in Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Mr. Dunn's business will now be able to hire and additional thirty workers, ninety percent of whom are also minorities. His company, The Idea Guy LLC, will perform over 5,000 free installations of converter boxes to ensure that constituents are prepared for the switch to digital television broadcasting. This contract from the ARRA is creating jobs for minority owned small businesses while meeting the other needs of our State and local communities.

I share President Obama's commitment to the oversight and transparency of funds distributed from the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is important that minority and women owned business are treated equitably in the distribution of federal contracts. I will continue work diligently to ensure that all Pennsylvanians have an equal opportunity to access funding to sustain and grow their businesses.

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Biden Makes PA his First Stop on

Vice-President Joe Biden has begun a tour of the country to highlight infrastructure improvements made possible by the Economic Stimulus Package.  Pennsylvania was his first stop on the "Road to Recovery" tour.  The Vice-President visited a bridge in Carlisle PA, his second visit to this bridge since February.  The eighty year old bridge is being replaced using $1.7 million of federal funding, and will reopen by the end of November, 2009.

This bridge is one of many projects in Pennsylvania that will has received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Pennsylvania will receive almost $5 billion through ARRA that will go towards infrastructure improvements and education initiatives that will create and protect jobs across the state.

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Funding to Expand Broadband Internet Availability

The Department of Agriculture and Department of Commerce recently announced that funding will soon be available for projects to help expand broadband access to communities with limited internet service. Many parts of Pennsylvania, especially rural areas, lack adequate internet service, and individuals in those communities cannot access the information many of us take for granted.  Grants and loans will fund projects to help more people get connected.

Through these funding programs, communities may apply for a portion of the $7.2 billion included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand access to broadband services.  Application submissions for the first of the three rounds of funding will open July 14, 2009 and close August 14, 2009.  I encourage communities from all over Pennsylvania to apply for this very important funding.

Visit the Broadband USA website to learn more about these programs or apply for funding.

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