Deadline nears to determine Bay Area stimulus fund recipients - bizjournals:

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Randolph is president and CEO of the Bay Area CounciolEconomic Institute, a public-private partnership of business, labor, government and educationh leaders supporting economic development in the nine-county region. He said the grou p has to submit a first draft ofits report, calledf the Bay Area Economic Recovery Workplan, by May 22 to the state’ss Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. The group’se schedule has been breakneck over the pastseverao weeks. “There is a huge range of proposalxsand proposers, with size and diversity to match the huge stimulusz package,” Randolph said.
On the largse side of the spectrum is the rebuilding of the Transbay Terminal transportation hub inSan Francisco, the first phase of which will cost $1.2 Toward the other end is a request for $79,00 0 for a police justice assistance grangt from the city of Santa Clara. Othert projects entering the stimulus-fund pipeline range from $6 billionh for the California High-Speed Rail Authority to help kickstargt construction ofthe 800-mile statewide to $2 million for the Redwoo d City School District that will be used to maintain 20 employeews who would otherwise have been laid off, to $663,000p for the city of Palo Alto to promotr energy-efficient projects.
Projects most likely to attract funding, accordinb to Randolph, are those utilizinbg public-private partnerships that involve multiple jurisdictions and have the potentia tocreate long-term employment. “The state is asking us to give them our best a few of which coulrd beconsidered strategic, some very small and a whole lot in the middle that may not reach the level of ‘strategic’ by but when coupled with other projects, coulr become much stronger Randolph said. Cities, counties, redevelopment agenciews and even private companies have submitted requests for part ofthe $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestmentt Act of 2009.
Randolpjh said the state has $30 billionj in stimulus funds, while another $20 billion is available to projects in Californis from thefederal government. He said the projectds are being grouped bycategories — includingf work force, transportation and mobility, water, energgy and climate, science and innovation, and business development. California’z only automobile plant — , or NUMMI — is also seekingy $17 million in stimulus fundsx for a proposed rail ramp that will ease transport of automotivr parts tothe plant.
Recognizing the Obama administration’s interest in energty efficiency and reducing greenhouse the company’s rail line could reduce the number of truck on the road ferrying parts and suppliese from the Lathrop area to Randolph said his agency is one of 12 statewide responsible for culling through applications from each region. It previouslyu analyzed the state’s international trade policy forthe Business, Transportatiob and Housing Agency, and this probably led to it being chosen to be the Bay Area stimulus applicatiojn clearinghouse. Because federal officials want stimulusd funds to enter theeconomy quickly, Dale E.
who heads the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, gave Randolpbh and his team of reviewers a littlde more than two months to compilethe plan. “The statse and federal response to the global recession calls for a cleart focus on priorities and a collaborativr spirit at all levels of governmenf working in partnership with theprivate sector,” Bonner said in a “The recovery plans will be an importantr tool to help identifyg opportunities and specific steps we can take immediately to spur economidc recovery throughout the state.
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