Surety Bond Blog » stimulus package http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog General to specific surety bond information, as well as current events within the industry. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:39:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Stimulus Funds To Refund Surety Bond Premiums http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/stimulus-funds-to-refund-surety-bond-premiums http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/stimulus-funds-to-refund-surety-bond-premiums#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:11:02 +0000 Michael Weisbrot http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/?p=836

The Federal Stimulus fund will refund surety bond premiums for contractors ARRA transportation infrastructure contracts.

See: Disadvantaged Business Enterprise American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Bonding Assistance Reimbursable Fee Program (DBE ARRA BAP)

“This new program, which will be administered by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), allows small and disadvantaged businesses to apply to be reimbursed for bonding premiums and fees incurred when competing for, or performing on, transportation infrastructure projects funded by ARRA. The program will be especially helpful for businesses with traditionally less working capital than larger contractors.”

The headline sure catches the eye, but how realistic is it? According to the site, only “small and disadvantaged businesses” can apply. When you read further down, it seems that they classify these businesses by their low working capital; one of the main items looked at when reviewing a contractor’s surety capacity.

Fortunately, it does allow the SBA bonded contractors to apply. However, SBA contractors’ bond lines are often reduced due to their lines of credit being reduced or terminated (SBA counts LOCs as working capital).

In other words, the government is willing to provide stimulus funds to refund contractors’ bond premiums, but only for contractors that don’t actually qualify for surety bonding.

]]> http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/stimulus-funds-to-refund-surety-bond-premiums/feed 8 Where Is The Stimulus Money Being Spent? http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/where-is-the-stimulus-money-being-spent http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/where-is-the-stimulus-money-being-spent#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:06:40 +0000 Michael Weisbrot http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/?p=605

Have you wondered what locations in the country are getting the most from the stimulus package? We created a new search tool to help you find where the stimulus funds are being spent. The tool even allows you to filter out criteria by job type, size, and location. If your a contractor in need of work, this should be a great place to start!

See: Stimulus Work Search Tool

What do you think? Is anywhere getting too much money? Is anywhere getting not enough? Leave us a comment, we want to hear from you!

]]> http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/where-is-the-stimulus-money-being-spent/feed 4 Stimulus Package: Pros & Cons For The Construction Industry http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/stimulus-package-pros-cons-for-the-construction-industry http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/stimulus-package-pros-cons-for-the-construction-industry#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:04:28 +0000 Michael Weisbrot http://www.jwsuretybonds.com/blog/?p=522

The stimulus package is absolutely gigantic. So much so, I thought I would create a list of pros and cons related to the construction industry pertaining to the bill. Many of the cons are items that the industry was pushing for, but did not get.

Overall, the bill looks like a victory for the construction and surety industries. See below for details.

PROS: CONS:
The biggest investment in infrastructure for 50+ years
No specified amount for school construction
Passed with $8 billion towards high-speed rail (previous Senate version included $2 billion, while previous House version included $0)
“State fiscal-stabilization� funds cannot be used for new construction of schools, only modernization
General Stimulus: $110.7 billion (35%) is appropriated for projects in 2010 General Stimulus: Only $34.8 billion (11%) of the $308.3 billion will be spent on “shovel-ready� projects by 9/30/09, the fiscal year end for 2009
Infrastructure Stimulus: 50% of funds spent on work to be started within 120 days of the enactment
“Use it or lose it� policy for DOT, a 50% expenditure for within 120 days “Use it or lose it� policy is not in force for the following departments, but they must report to Congress on how they are spending their funds:
DOD & VA – 30 days
GSA – 45 days
“Build America� tax-credit bonds can be issued by local and state governments in 2009 & 2010
Small businesses may deduct income up to $250K of capital expenditures as well as a 50% deduction on depreciable assets (e.g. construction equipment)
Businesses can carry 08’ operating losses to offset profits from previous years Only companies with less than $15 million in revenue can qualify
A bill that requires public companies to withhold 3% of their contracts will no longer be effective for 2011 The bill will be effective for 2012
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