In The Race To Attract & Spend Stimulus Project Dollars, Some States Score Gold, While Others Lag

SEATTLE, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new analysis by Onvia, (Nasdaq: ONVI), reveals some states excel at attracting Recovery Act project funding and quickly awarding it to contractors, while others lag far behind on both measures. Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming, and New Hampshire placed in top of the "Gold" category in Onvia's analysis, while Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, and Nevada placed in the at the lowest end of the "Laggard" category.  Onvia is the leader in gBusiness solutions and the creator of Recovery.org, a private sector initiative to give businesses transparency into recovery project spending.

The analysis reviewed the per capita stimulus funding received by the 50 states for projects from the Recovery Act, and the speed with which the funds have been awarded to contractors that create the private sector jobs needed to do the work.

Top level findings:

• Connecticut and Massachusetts scored the highest velocity of projects actually awarded to contractors using Recovery Act funding, with 37.7% and 36.5% of funds received within the state awarded to contractors, respectively. South Carolina had the lowest velocity, 0.2%.
• North Carolina attracted the most Recovery Act project dollars per capita ($7,125), followed by Alaska ($2,482), Montana ($1,523), Colorado ($1,469), and New Mexico ($1,418). New Jersey and Florida attracted the least per capita ( $700 and $710, respectively).  
• Alaska did the best combined job of attracting and awarding Recovery Act project funds – placing it at the top of the "Gold" category. Others in this category include North Dakota, Wyoming, and New Hampshire. Virginia led the "Laggards" category – states that attracted the fewest project funds per capita and were slowest to award them. Others in this category include Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, and Nevada.
• Michigan, where the unemployment rate was the highest at 14.3%, ranked in the "Laggard" category with $821 project dollars received per capita, and with just 14% of those projects actually awarded to contractors.  Nevada, which also had one of the highest unemployment rates, was also in the Laggard category at $733 per capita and 9.4% awarded.

An interactive diagram of the findings is available at http://promotions.onvia.com/pages/chart/arra_velocity.html.  The findings were culled from Onvia's data through March, 2010 – roughly one year since stimulus money began flowing to the states.  

"Onvia's analysis shows the bulk of the Recovery Act project funds have yet to make their way all the way through the system to the contractors and subcontractors that do the work and create private sector jobs on Main Street. However some states are far more efficient than others," said Mike Pickett, Onvia CEO.  "We believe the second half of 2010 will see a substantial acceleration in the velocity of contract awards. Businesses that want a part of the emerging gBusiness marketplace should be following these projects now and preparing for a wave of contract awards in the second half of the year."

As of June 17, 2010, Onvia was tracking roughly 72,000 Recovery Act projects valued at $200 billion, of which 23,000 projects totaling $66 billion had been awarded to contractors.  

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