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Small Businesses Starting To See Impact of the Stimulus Package

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August 13, 2009

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The controversy continues around whether or not the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is more commonly referred to as the stimulus package, helps small businesses.

While the political debates rage, reports from around the country are starting to highlight examples of small businesses benefiting from the package.  A few examples from the dozens of stories I’ve seen on this topic over the last few weeks include: 

- The Boston Globe article A boost for the little guys discusses a stimulus package loan that is helping Red Barn Coffee Grocers, a small coffee shop and roaster.  The article points out that they are “one of hundreds of small businesses in Massachusetts to benefit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

- The American Institute of Architects story Small Firm Takes Big Steps with Stimulus Funded Projects describes how Substance Architecture, a 14 employee architecture firm in Des Moines, is getting work due the stimulus package.  The article points out that the AIA estimates that $130 billion of the stimulus funding is for design and construction.

- According to the Michigan Live article Stimulus will help small manufacturing companies diversify into renewable energy, the state of Michigan is using federal stimulus money to help small manufacturers retool for work in the renewable energy field.

- ProPublica continues its excellent stimulus package coverage and now reports that more than 5800 highway projects have been approved and about 2300 are underway.  From browsing through their detailed project data, it appears most of these projects have been awarded to small businesses. 

A more personal example is my own very small (2 employee) business.  We have upgraded our technical infrastructure and are saving money by taking advantage of the stimulus package extension of accelerated depreciation for certain assets. 

The next six months will see a substantial increase in the amount of stimulus money moving into the economy.  Because of this, the opportunities for small businesses to benefit – both directly and indirectly – will increase.  

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